DATA AND COMPUTER
COMMUNICATIONS
Eighth Edition
William Stallings
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
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For my scintillating wife
ATS
WEB SITE FOR DATA AND COMPUTER
COMMUNICATIONS, EIGHTH EDITION
The Web site at WilliamStallings.com/DCC/DCC8e.html provides support for instructors and
students using the book. It includes the following elements.
Course Support Materials
The course support materials include
• Copies of figures from the book in PDF format
• A detailed set of course notes in PDF format suitable for student handout or
for use as viewgraphs
• A set of PowerPoint slides for use as lecture aids
• Computer Science Student Support Site: contains a number of links and
documents that the student may find useful in his/her ongoing computer
science education. The site includes a review of basic, relevant mathematics;
advice on research, writing, and doing homework problems; links to
computer science research resources, such as report repositories and
bibliographies; and other useful links.
• An errata sheet for the book, updated at most monthly
DCC Courses
The DCC8e Web site includes links to Web sites for courses taught using the book. These
sites can provide useful ideas about scheduling and topic ordering, as well as a number of
useful handouts and other materials.
Useful Web Sites
The DCC8e Web site includes links to relevant Web sites, organized by chapter. The links
cover a broad spectrum of topics and will enable students to explore timely issues in greater
depth.
iv
WEB SITE FOR DATA AND COMPUTER COMMUNICATIONS, EIGHTH EDITION v
Supplemental Documents
The DCC8e Web site includes a number of documents that expand on the treatment in the
book. Topics include standards organizations, Sockets, TCP/IP checksum, ASCII, and the
sampling theorem.
Internet Mailing List
An Internet mailing list is maintained so that instructors using this book can exchange infor-
mation, suggestions, and questions with each other and the author. Subscription information
is provided at the book’s Web site.
Simulation and Modeling Tools
The Web site includes links to the cnet Web site and the modeling tools Web site. These pack-
ages can be used to analyze and experiment with protocol and network design issues. Each
site includes downloadable software and background information. The instructor’s manual
includes more information on loading and using the software and suggested student projects.
This page intentionally left blank
CONTENTS
Web Site for Data and Computer Communications iv
Preface xv
Chapter 0
Reader’s and Instructor’s Guide
1
0.1
Outline of the Book
2
0.2
Roadmap
3
0.3
Internet and Web Resources
5
0.4
Standards
6
PART ONE OVERVIEW
9
Chapter 1
Data Communications, Data Networking, and the Internet
10
1.1
Data Communications and Networking for Today’s Enterprise
12
1.2
A Communications Model
16
1.3
Data Communications
19
1.4
Networks
22
1.5
The Internet
25
1.6
An Example Configuration
29
Chapter 2
Protocol Architecture, TCP/IP, and Internet-Based Applications
32
2.1
The Need for a Protocol Architecture
33
2.2
The TCP/IP Protocol Architecture
34
2.3
The OSI Model
42
2.4
Standardization within a Protocol Architecture
44
2.5
Traditional Internet-Based Applications
48
2.6
Multimedia
48
2.7
Recommended Reading and Web Sites
53
2.8
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
54
Appendix 2A The Trivial File Transfer Protocol
57
PART TWO DATA COMMUNICATIONS
62
Chapter 3
Data Transmission
65
3.1
Concepts and Terminology
67
3.2
Analog and Digital Data Transmission
78
3.3
Transmission Impairments
86
3.4
Channel Capacity
91
3.5
Recommended Reading and Web Site
96
3.6
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
96
Appendix 3A Decibels and Signal Strength
99
Chapter 4
Transmission Media
102
4.1
Guided Transmission Media
104
4.2
Wireless Transmission
117
4.3
Wireless Propagation
125
vii
viii CONTENTS
4.4
Line-of-Sight Transmission
129
4.5
Recommended Reading and Web Sites
133
4.6
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
134
Chapter 5
Signal Encoding Techniques
138
5.1
Digital Data, Digital Signals
141
5.2
Digital Data, Analog Signals
151
5.3
Analog Data, Digital Signals
162
5.4
Analog Data, Analog Signals
168
5.5
Recommended Reading
175
5.6
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
175
Chapter 6
Digital Data Communication Techniques
180
6.1
Asynchronous and Synchronous Transmission
182
6.2
Types of Errors
186
6.3
Error Detection
186
6.4
Error Correction
196
6.5
Line Configurations
201
6.6
Recommended Reading
203
6.7
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
204
Chapter 7
Data Link Control Protocols
207
7.1
Flow Control
209
7.2
Error Control
216
7.3
High-Level Data Link Control (HDLC)
222
7.4
Recommended Reading
228
7.5
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
229
Appendix 7A Performance Issues
232
Chapter 8
Multiplexing
239
8.1
Frequency-Division Multiplexing
242
8.2
Synchronous Time-Division Multiplexing
248
8.3
Statistical Time-Division Multiplexing
258
8.4
Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line
265
8.5
xDSL
268
8.6
Recommended Reading and Web Sites
269
8.7
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
270
Chapter 9
Spread Spectrum 274
9.1
The Concept of Spread Spectrum
276
9.2
Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum
277
9.3
Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum
282
9.4
Code-Division Multiple Access
287
9.5
Recommended Reading and Web Site
290
9.6
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
291
CONTENTS
ix
PART THREE WIDE AREA NETWORKS
295
Chapter 10
Circuit Switching and Packet Switching
297
10.1
Switched Communications Networks
299
10.2
Circuit Switching Networks
301
10.3
Circuit Switching Concepts
304
10.4
Softswitch Architecture
307
10.5
Packet-Switching Principles
309
10.6
X.25
317
10.7
Frame Relay
319
10.8
Recommended Reading and Web Sites
324
10.9
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
325
Chapter 11
Asynchronous Transfer Mode
328
11.1
Protocol Architecture
329
11.2
ATM Logical Connections
331
11.3
ATM Cells
335
11.4
Transmission of ATM Cells
340
11.5
ATM Service Categories
345
11.6
Recommended Reading and Web Sites
348
11.7
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
349
Chapter 12
Routing in Switched Networks
351
12.1
Routing in Packet-Switching Networks
352
12.2
Examples: Routing in ARPANET
362
12.3
Least-Cost Algorithms
367
12.4
Recommended Reading
372
12.5
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
373
Chapter 13
Congestion Control in Data Networks
377
13.1
Effects of Congestion
379
13.2
Congestion Control
383
13.3
Traffic Management
386
13.4
Congestion Control in Packet-Switching Networks
387
13.5
Frame Relay Congestion Control
388
13.6
ATM Traffic Management
394
13.7
ATM-GFR Traffic Management
406
13.8
Recommended Reading
409
13.9
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
410
Chapter 14
Cellular Wireless Networks
413
14.1
Principles of Cellular Networks
415
14.2
First Generation Analog
427
14.3
Second Generation CDMA
429
14.4
Third Generation Systems
437
14.5
Recommended Reading and Web Sites
440
14.6
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
441
x CONTENTS
PART FOUR LOCAL AREA NETWORKS
444
Chapter 15 Local Area Network Overview
446
15.1
Background
448
15.2
Topologies and Transmission Media
451
15.3
LAN Protocol Architecture
457
15.4
Bridges
465
15.5
Layer 2 and Layer 3 Switches
473
15.6
Recommended Reading and Web Site
478
15.7
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
479
Chapter 16 High-Speed LANs
482
16.1
The Emergence of High-Speed LANs
483
16.2
Ethernet
485
16.3
Fibre Channel
500
16.4
Recommended Reading and Web Sites
504
16.5
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
506
Appendix 16A Digital Signal Encoding for LANs
508
Appendix 16B Performance Issues
514
Appendix 16C Scrambling
518
Chapter 17 Wireless LANs
522
17.1
Overview
523
17.2
Wireless LAN Technology
528
17.3
IEEE 802.11 Architecture and Services
531
17.4
IEEE 802.11 Medium Access Control
535
17.5
IEEE 802.11Physical Layer
543
17.6
IEEE 802.11 Security Considerations
549
17.7
Recommended Reading and Web Sites
550
17.8
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
551
PART FIVE INTERNET AND TRANSPORT PROTOCOLS
554
Chapter 18 Internetwork Protocols
556
18.1
Basic Protocol Functions
558
18.2
Principles of Internetworking
566
18.3
Internet Protocol Operation
569
18.4
Internet Protocol
576
18.5
IPv6
586
18.6
Virtual Private Networks and IP Security
596
18.7
Recommended Reading and Web Sites
599
18.8
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
600
Chapter 19 Internetwork Operation
603
19.1
Multicasting
605
19.2
Routing Protocols
614
19.3
Integrated Services Architecture
625
19.4
Differentiated Services
636
CONTENTS
xi
19.5
Service Level Agreements
645
19.6
IP Performance Metrics
646
19.7
Recommended Reading and Web Sites
649
19.8
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
651
Chapter 20
Transport Protocols
655
20.1
Connection-Oriented Transport Protocol Mechanisms
657
20.2
TCP
674
20.3
TCP Congestion Control
683
20.4
UDP
693
20.5
Recommended Reading and Web Sites
695
20.6
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
695
PART SIX INTERNET APPLICATIONS
699
Chapter 21
Network Security
701
21.1
Security Requirements and Attacks
703
21.2
Confidentiality with Conventional Encryption
705
21.3
Message Authentication and Hash Functions
713
21.4
Public-Key Encryption and Digital Signatures
720
21.5
Secure Socket Layer and Transport Layer Security
727
21.6
IPv4 and IPv6 Security
732
21.7
Wi-Fi Protected Access
737
21.8
Recommended Reading and Web Sites
739
21.9
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
740
Chapter 22
Internet Applications—Electronic Mail and Network Management
743
22.1
Electronic Mail: SMTP and MIME
745
22.2
Network Management: SNMP
760
22.3
Recommended Reading and Web Sites
770
22.4
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
771
Chapter 23
Internet Applications—Internet Directory Service and World Wide Web
773
23.1
Internet Directory Service: DNS
774
23.2
Web Access: HTTP
784
23.3
Recommended Reading and Web Sites
795
23.4
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
796
Chapter 24
Internet Applications—Multimedia
799
24.1
Audio and Video Compression
800
24.2
Real-Time Traffic
808
24.3
Voice Over IP and Multimedia Support—SIP
811
24.4
Real-Time Transport Protocol (RTP)
820
24.5
Recommended Reading and Web Sites
831
24.6
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
832
xii CONTENTS
APPENDICES
835
Appendix A Fourier Analysis
835
A.1
Fourier Series Representation of Periodic Signals
836
A.2
Fourier Transform Representation of Aperiodic Signals
837
A.3
Recommended Reading
840
Appendix B Projects for Teaching Data and Computer Communications
841
B.1
Practical Exercises
842
B.2
Sockets Projects
843
B.3
Ethereal Projects
843
B.4
Simulation and Modeling Projects
844
B.5
Performance Modeling
844
B.6
Research Projects
845
B.7
Reading/Report Assignments
845
B.8
Writing Assignments
845
B.9
Discussion Topics
846
References
847
Index
858
ONLINE APPENDICES
WilliamStallings.com/DCC
Appendix C Sockets: A Programmer’s Introduction
C.1
Versions of Sockets
C.2
Sockets, Socket Descriptors, Ports, and Connections
C.3
The Client/Server Model of Communication
C.4
Sockets Elements
C.5
Stream and Datagram Sockets
C.6
Run-Time Program Control
C.7
Remote Execution of a Windows Console Application
Appendix D Standards Organizations
D.1
The Importance of Standards
D.2
Standards and Regulation
D.3
Standards-Setting Organizations
Appendix E The International Reference Alphabet
Appendix F Proof of the Sampling Theorem
Appendix G Physical-Layer Interfacing
G.1
V.24/EIA-232-F
G.2
ISDN Physical Interface
Appendix H The OSI Model
H.1
The Model
H.2
The OSI Layers
CONTENTS xiii
Appendix I Queuing Effects
I.1
Queuing Models
I.2
Queuing Results
Appendix J Orthogonality, Correlation, and Autocorrelation
J.1
Correlation and Autocorrelation
J.2
Orthogonal Codes
Appendix K The TCP/IP Checksum
K.1
Ones-Complement Addition
K.2
Use in TCP and IP
Appendix L TCP/IP Example
Appendix M Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) and Uniform Resource
Identifiers (URIs)
M.1
Uniform Resource Locator
M.2
Uniform Resource Identifier
M.3
To Learn More
Appendix N Augmented Backus-Naur Form
Glossary
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PREFACE
Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end; then stop.
—Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
OBJECTIVES
This book attempts to provide a unified overview of the broad field of data and computer com-
munications. The organization of the book reflects an attempt to break this massive subject
into comprehensible parts and to build, piece by piece, a survey of the state of the art. The book
emphasizes basic principles and topics of fundamental importance concerning the technology
and architecture of this field and provides a detailed discussion of leading-edge topics.
The following basic themes serve to unify the discussion:
• Principles: Although the scope of this book is broad, there are a number of
basic principles that appear repeatedly as themes and that unify this field.
Examples are multiplexing, flow control, and error control. The book highlights
these principles and contrasts their application in specific areas of technology.
• Design approaches: The book examines alternative approaches to meeting
specific communication requirements.
• Standards: Standards have come to assume an increasingly important, indeed
dominant, role in this field. An understanding of the current status and future
direction of technology requires a comprehensive discussion of the related
standards.
INTENDED AUDIENCE
The book is intended for both an academic and a professional audience. For the professional
interested in this field, the book serves as a basic reference volume and is suitable for self-study.
As a textbook, it can be used for a one-semester or two-semester course. It covers the material
in Networking (NET), a core area in the Information Technology body of knowledge, which
is part of the Draft ACM/IEEE/AIS Computing Curricula 2005. The book also covers the
material in Computer Networks (CE-NWK), a core area in Computer Engineering 2004
Curriculum Guidelines from the ACM/IEEE Joint Task Force on Computing Curricula.
PLAN OF THE TEXT
The book is divided into six parts (see Chapter 0):
• Overview
• Data Communications
• Wide Area Networks
xv
xvi PREFACE
• Local Area Networks
• Internet and Transport Protocols
• Internet Applications
In addition, the book includes an extensive glossary, a list of frequently used acronyms,
and a bibliography. Each chapter includes problems and suggestions for further reading.
The chapters and parts of the book are sufficiently modular to provide a great deal of flex-
ibility in the design of courses. See Chapter 0 for a number of detailed suggestions for both
top-down and bottom-up course strategies.
INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT MATERIALS
To support instructors, the following materials are provided:
• Solutions Manual: Solutions to all end-of-chapter Review Questions and
Problems.
• PowerPoint Slides: A set of slides covering all chapters, suitable for use in
lecturing.
• PDF files: Reproductions of all figures and tables from the book.
• Projects Manual: Suggested project assignments for all of the project cate-
gories listed below.
Instructors may contact their Pearson Education or Prentice Hall representative for
access to these materials.
In addition, the book’s Web site supports instructors with:
• Links to Webs sites for other courses being taught using this book
• Sign up information for an Internet mailing list for instructors
INTERNET SERVICES FOR INSTRUCTORS AND STUDENTS
There is a Web site for this book that provides support for students and instructors.
The site includes links to other relevant sites, transparency masters of figures in the book,
and sign-up information for the book’s Internet mailing list. The Web page is at
WilliamStallings.com/DCC/DCC8e.html; see the section, Web Site for Data and Computer
Communications, preceding the Table of Contents, for more information. An Internet mail-
ing list has been set up so that instructors using this book can exchange information, sug-
gestions, and questions with each other and with the author. As soon as typos or other errors
are discovered, an errata list for this book will be available at WilliamStallings.com.
PROJECTS AND OTHER STUDENT EXERCISES
For many instructors, an important component of a data communications or networking
course is a project or set of projects by which the student gets hands-on experience to rein-
force concepts from the text. This book provides an unparalleled degree of support for
including a projects component in the course. The instructor’s supplement not only includes
guidance on how to assign and structure the projects but also includes a set of User’s
PREFACE xvii
Manuals for various project types plus specific assignments, all written especially for this
book. Instructors can assign work in the following areas:
• Practical exercises: Using network commands, the student gains experience in
network connectivity.
• Sockets programming projects: The book is supported by a detailed descrip-
tion of Sockets available at the book’s Web site. The Instructors supplement
includes a set of programming projects. Sockets programming is an “easy”
topic and one that can result in very satisfying hands-on projects for students.
• Ethereal projects: Ethereal is a protocol analyzer that enables students to
study the behavior of protocols.
• Simulation projects: The student can use the simulation package cnet to
analyze network behavior.
• Performance modeling projects: Two performance modeling techniques are
provided a tools package and OPNET.
• Research projects: The instructor’s supplement includes a list of suggested
research projects that would involve Web and literature searches.
• Reading/report assignments: The instructor’s supplement includes a list of
papers that can be assigned for reading and writing a report, plus suggested
assignment wording.
• Writing assignments: The instructor’s supplement includes a list of writing
assignments to facilitate learning the material.
• Discussion topics: These topics can be used in a classroom, chat room, or
message board environment to explore certain areas in greater depth and to
foster student collaboration.
This diverse set of projects and other student exercises enables the instructor to use the
book as one component in a rich and varied learning experience and to tailor a course plan
to meet the specific needs of the instructor and students. See Appendix B for details.
WHAT’S NEW IN THE EIGHTH EDITION
This eighth edition is seeing the light of day less than four years after the publication of the
seventh edition. During that time, the pace of change in this field continues unabated. In this
new edition, I try to capture these changes while maintaining a broad and comprehensive
coverage of the entire field. To begin the process of revision, the seventh edition of this book
was extensively reviewed by a number of professors who teach the subject. The result is that,
in many places, the narrative has been clarified and tightened, and illustrations have been
improved. Also, a number of new “field-tested” problems have been added.
Beyond these refinements to improve pedagogy and user friendliness, there have been
major substantive changes throughout the book. Every chapter has been revised, new
chapters have been added, and the overall organization of the book has changed.
Highlights include:
• Updated coverage of Gigabit Ethernet and 10-Gbps Ethernet: New details of
these standards are provided.
• Updated coverage of WiFi/IEEE 802.11 wireless LANs: IEEE 802.11 and the
related WiFi specifications have continued to evolve.
xviii PREFACE
• New coverage of IP performance metrics and service level agreements
(SLAs): These aspects of Quality of Service (QoS) and performance monitor-
ing are increasingly important.
• Address Resolution Protocol (ARP): This important protocol is now covered.
• New coverage of TCP Tahoe, Reno, and NewReno: These congestion control
algorithms are now common in most commercial implementations.
• Expanded coverage of security: Chapter 21 is more detailed; other chapters
provide overview of security for the relevant topic. Among the new topics are
Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) and the secure hash algorithm SHA-512.
• Domain Name System (DNS): This important scheme is now covered.
• New coverage of multimedia: Introductory section in Chapter 2; detailed cov-
erage in Chapter 24. Topics covered include video compression, SIP, and RTP.
• Online appendices: Fourteen online appendices provide additional detail on
important topics in the text, including Sockets programming, queuing models,
the Internet checksum, a detailed example of TCP/IP operation, and the BNF
grammar.
In addition, throughout the book, virtually every topic has been updated to reflect the
developments in standards and technology that have occurred since the publication of the
seventh edition.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This new edition has benefited from review by a number of people, who gave generously of
their time and expertise. The following people reviewed all or a large part of the manuscript:
Xin Liu- (UC, Davis), Jorge Cobb, Andras Farago, Dr. Prasant Mohapatra (UC Davis), Dr.
Jingxian Wu (Sonoma State University), G. R. Dattareya (UT Dallas), Guanling Chen
(Umass, Lowell), Bob Roohaprvar (Cal State East Bay), Ahmed Banafa (Cal State East
Bay), Ching-Chen Lee (CSU Hayward), and Daji Qaio (Iowa State).
Thanks also to the many people who provided detailed technical reviews of a single chap-
ter: Dave Tweed, Bruce Lane, Denis McMahon, Charles Freund, Paul Hoadley, Stephen Ma,
Sandeep Subramaniam, Dragan Cvetkovic, Fernando Gont, Neil Giles, Rajesh Thundil, and
Rick Jones. In addition, Larry Owens of California State University and Katia Obraczka of
the University of Southern California provided some homework problems.
Thanks also to the following contributors. Zornitza Prodanoff of the University of North
Florida prepared the appendix on Sockets programming. Michael Harris of the University
of South Florida is responsible for the Ethereal exercises and user’s guide. Lawrie Brown of
the Australian Defence Force Academy of the University of New South Wales produced the
PPT lecture slides.
Finally, I would like to thank the many people responsible for the publication of the book,
all of whom did their usual excellent job. This includes the staff at Prentice Hall, particularly
my editor Tracy Dunkelberger, her assistants Christianna Lee and Carole Snyder, and pro-
duction manager Rose Kernan. Also, Patricia M. Daly did the copy editing.
CHAPTER 0
READER’S AND INSTRUCTOR’S
GUIDE
0.1
Outline of the Book
0.2
Roadmap
0.3
Internet and Web Resources
0.4
Standards
1
2
CHAPTER 0 / READER’S AND INSTRUCTOR’S GUIDE
“In the meanwhile, then,” demanded Li-loe, “relate to me the story to which reference
has been made, thereby proving the truth of your assertion, and at the same time
affording an entertainment of a somewhat exceptional kind.”
“The shadows lengthen,” replied Kai Lung, “but as the narrative in
question is of an inconspicuous span I will raise no barrier against your flattering
request, especially as it indicates an awakening taste
hitherto unexpected.”
—Kai Lung’s Golden Hours, Earnest Bramah
This book, with its accompanying Web site, covers a lot of material. Here we give
the reader some basic background information.
0.1
OUTLINE OF THE BOOK
The book is organized into five parts:
Part One. Overview: Provides an introduction to the range of topics covered in
the book. This part includes a general overview of data communications and net-
working and a discussion of protocols, OSI, and the TCP/IP protocol suite.
Part Two. Data Communications: Concerned primarily with the exchange of
data between two directly connected devices.Within this restricted scope, the key
aspects of transmission, interfacing, link control, and multiplexing are examined.
Part Three. Wide Area Networks: Examines the internal mechanisms and
user-network interfaces that have been developed to support voice, data, and
multimedia communications over long-distance networks. The traditional tech-
nologies of packet switching and circuit switching are examined, as well as the
more recent ATM and wireless WANs. Separate chapters are devoted to routing
and congestion control issues that are relevant both to switched data networks
and to the Internet.
Part Four. Local Area Networks: Explores the technologies and architectures
that have been developed for networking over shorter distances. The transmis-
sion media, topologies, and medium access control protocols that are the key
ingredients of a LAN design are explored and specific standardized LAN sys-
tems examined.
Part Five. Networking Protocols: Explores both the architectural principles and
the mechanisms required for the exchange of data among computers, worksta-
tions, servers, and other data processing devices. Much of the material in this part
relates to the TCP/IP protocol suite.
Part Six. Internet Applications: Looks at a range of applications that operate
over the Internet.
A more detailed, chapter-by-chapter summary of each part appears at the
beginning of that part.
0.2 / ROADMAP
3
0.2
ROADMAP
Course Emphasis
The material in this book is organized into four broad categories: data transmission
and communication; communications networks; network protocols; and applica-
tions and security. The chapters and parts of the book are sufficiently modular to
provide a great deal of flexibility in the design of courses. The following are
suggestions for three different course designs:
• Fundamentals of Data Communications: Parts One (overview) and Two (data
communications) and Chapters 10 and 11 (circuit switching, packet switching,
and ATM).
• Communications Networks: If the student has a basic background in data
communications, then this course could cover Parts One (overview), Three
(WAN), and Four (LAN).
• Computer Networks: If the student has a basic background in data communi-
cations, then this course could cover Part One (overview), Chapters 6 and 7
(data communication techniques and data link control), Part Five (protocols),
and part or all of Part Six (applications).
In addition, a more streamlined course that covers the entire book is possible
by eliminating certain chapters that are not essential on a first reading. Chapters
that could be optional are Chapters 3 (data transmission) and 4 (transmission
media), if the student has a basic understanding of these topics; Chapter 8 (multi-
plexing); Chapter 9 (spread spectrum); Chapters 12 through 14 (routing, congestion
control, cellular networks); Chapter 18 (internetworking); and Chapter 21 (network
security).
Bottom-Up versus Top-Down
The book is organized in a modular fashion. After reading Part One, the other parts
can be read in a number of possible sequences. Figure 0.1a shows the bottom-up
approach provided by reading the book from front to back. With this approach, each
part builds on the material in the previous part, so that it is always clear how a given
layer of functionality is supported from below. There is more material than can be
comfortably covered in a single semester, but the book’s organization makes it easy
to eliminate some chapters and maintain the bottom-up sequence. Figure 0.1b
suggests one approach to a survey course.
Some readers, and some instructors, are more comfortable with a top-down
approach. After the background material (Part One), the reader continues at the
application level and works down through the protocol layers. This has the advan-
tage of immediately focusing on the most visible part of the material, the applica-
tions, and then seeing, progressively, how each layer is supported by the next layer
down. Figure 0.1c is an example of a comprehensive treatment and Figure 0.1d is an
example of a survey treatment.
4
CHAPTER 0 / READER’S AND INSTRUCTOR’S GUIDE
Part One
Part One
Overview
Overview (1, 2)
Part Two
Part Two
Data Communications
Data Communications (3, 6, 7, 8)
Part Three
Part Three
Wide Area Networks
WANs (10, 12)
Part Four
Part Four
Local Area Networks
LANs (15)
Part Five
Part Five
Internet and Transport Protocols
TCP/IP (18, 20)
Part Six
Internet Applications
(a) A bottom-up approach
(b) Another bottom-up approach
Part One
Part One
Overview
Overview
Chapter 18
Chapter 18
The Internet Protocol
The Internet Protocol
Part Six
Part Six
Internet Applications
Internet Applications
Part Five
Part Five
TCP/IP
TCP/IP
Part Three
Part Three
WANs
WANs (10, 12)
Part Four
Part Four
LANs
LANs (15)
Part Two
Data Communications
(c) A top-down approach
(d) Another top-down approach
Figure 0.1
Suggested Reading Orders
Finally, it is possible to select chapters to reflect specific teaching objectives by
not sticking to a strict chapter ordering. We give two examples used in courses
taught with the seventh edition. One course used the sequence Part One
(Overview); Chapter 3 (Data Transmission); Chapter 6 (Digital Data Communica-
tions Techniques); Chapter 7 (Data Link Control); Chapter 15 (LAN Overview);
Chapter 16 (High-Speed LANs); Chapter 10 (Circuit and Packet Switching);
Chapter 12 (Routing); Chapter 18 (Internet Protocols); and Chapter 19 (Internet
Operation). The other course used the sequence Part One (Overview); Chapter 3
(Data Transmission); Chapter 4 (Guided and Wireless Transmission); Chapter 5
(Signal Encoding Techniques); Chapter
8
(Multiplexing); Chapter
15
(LAN
0.3 / INTERNET AND WEB RESOURCES
5
Overview); Chapter 16 (High-Speed LANs); Chapter 10 (Circuit and Packet
Switching); Chapter 20 (Transport Protocols); Chapter 18 (Internet Protocols); and
Chapter 19 (Internet Operation).
0.3
INTERNET AND WEB RESOURCES
There are a number of resources available on the Internet and the Web to support
this book and to help one keep up with developments in this field.
Web Sites for This Book
A special Web page has been set up for this book at WilliamStallings.com/DCC/
DCC8e.html. See the two-page layout at the beginning of this book for a detailed
description of that site.
As soon as any typos or other errors are discovered, an errata list for this book
will be available at the Web site. Please report any errors that you spot. Errata
sheets for my other books are at WilliamStallings.com.
I also maintain the Computer Science Student Resource Site, at
WilliamStallings.com/StudentSupport.html. The purpose of this site is to provide docu-
ments, information, and links for computer science students and professionals. Links
and documents are organized into four categories:
• Math: Includes a basic math refresher, a queuing analysis primer, a number
system primer, and links to numerous math sites
• How-to: Advice and guidance for solving homework problems, writing techni-
cal reports, and preparing technical presentations
• Research resources: Links to important collections of papers, technical
reports, and bibliographies
• Miscellaneous: A variety of useful documents and links
Other Web Sites
There are numerous Web sites that provide information related to the topics of this
book. In subsequent chapters, pointers to specific Web sites can be found in the
Recommended Reading and Web Sites section. Because the addresses for Web sites
tend to change frequently, I have not included URLs in the book. For all of the Web
sites listed in the book, the appropriate link can be found at this book’s Web site.
Other links not mentioned in this book will be added to the Web site over time.
The following are Web sites of general interest related to data and computer
communications:
• Network World: Information and links to resources about data communica-
tions and networking.
• IETF: Maintains archives that relate to the Internet and IETF activities.
Includes keyword-indexed library of RFCs and draft documents as well as
many other documents related to the Internet and related protocols.
6
CHAPTER 0 / READER’S AND INSTRUCTOR’S GUIDE
• Vendors: Links to thousands of hardware and software vendors who currently
have Web sites, as well as a list of thousands of computer and networking com-
panies in a phone directory.
• IEEE Communications Society: Good way to keep up on conferences, publi-
cations, and so on.
• ACM Special Interest Group on Communications (SIGCOMM): Good way
to keep up on conferences, publications, and so on.
• International Telecommunications Union: Contains a listing of ITU-T recom-
mendations, plus information on obtaining ITU-T documents in hard copy or
on DVD.
• International Organization for Standardization: Contains a listing of ISO
standards, plus information on obtaining ISO documents in hard copy or on
CD-ROM.
• CommWeb: Links to vendors, tutorials, and other useful information.
• CommsDesign: Lot of useful articles, tutorials, and product information. A bit
hard to navigate, but worthwhile.
USENET Newsgroups
A number of USENET newsgroups are devoted to some aspect of data communi-
cations, networks, and protocols. As with virtually all USENET groups, there is a
high noise-to-signal ratio, but it is worth experimenting to see if any meet your
needs. The most relevant are as follows:
• comp.dcom.lans, comp.dcom.lans.misc: General discussions of LANs
• comp.dcom.lans.ethernet: Covers Ethernet, Ethernet-like systems, and the IEEE
802.3 CSMA/CD standards
• comp.std.wireless: General discussion of wireless networks, including wireless
LANs
• comp.security.misc: Computer security and encryption
• comp.dcom.cell-relay: Covers ATM and ATM LANs
• comp.dcom.frame-relay: Covers frame relay networks
• comp.dcom.net-management: Discussion of network management applications,
protocols, and standards
• comp.protocols.tcp-ip: The TCP/IP protocol suite
0.4
STANDARDS
It has long been accepted in the telecommunications industry that standards are
required to govern the physical, electrical, and procedural characteristics of com-
munication equipment. In the past, this view has not been embraced by the com-
puter industry. Whereas communication equipment vendors recognize that their
0.4 / STANDARDS
7
equipment will generally interface to and communicate with other vendors’ equip-
ment, computer vendors have traditionally attempted to monopolize their cus-
tomers.The proliferation of computers and distributed processing has made that an
untenable position. Computers from different vendors must communicate with
each other and, with the ongoing evolution of protocol standards, customers will no
longer accept special-purpose protocol conversion software development. The
result is that standards now permeate all of the areas of technology discussed in
this book.
There are a number of advantages and disadvantages to the standards-making
process. We list here the most striking ones. The principal advantages of standards
are as follows:
• A standard assures that there will be a large market for a particular piece of
equipment or software. This encourages mass production and, in some cases,
the use of large-scale-integration (LSI) or very-large-scale-integration (VLSI)
techniques, resulting in lower costs.
• A standard allows products from multiple vendors to communicate, giving the
purchaser more flexibility in equipment selection and use.
The principal disadvantages are as follows:
• A standard tends to freeze the technology. By the time a standard is devel-
oped, subjected to review and compromise, and promulgated, more efficient
techniques are possible.
• There are multiple standards for the same thing. This is not a disadvantage of
standards per se, but of the current way things are done. Fortunately, in recent
years the various standards-making organizations have begun to cooperate
more closely. Nevertheless, there are still areas where multiple conflicting
standards exist.
Throughout this book, we describe the most important standards in use or
being developed for various aspects of data and computer communications. Various
organizations have been involved in the development or promotion of these stan-
dards. The following are the most important (in the current context) of these orga-
nizations:
• Internet Society: The Internet SOCiety (ISOC) is a professional member-
ship society with more than 150 organizational and 6000 individual mem-
bers in over 100 countries. It provides leadership in addressing issues that
confront the future of the Internet and is the organization home for the
groups responsible for Internet infrastructure standards, including the
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the Internet Architecture
Board (IAB). All of the RFCs and Internet standards are developed
through these organizations.
• IEEE 802: The IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802
LAN/MAN Standards Committee develops local area network standards and
metropolitan area network standards. The most widely used standards are for
the Ethernet family, wireless LAN, bridging, and virtual bridged LANs. An
individual working group provides the focus for each area.
8
CHAPTER 0 / READER’S AND INSTRUCTOR’S GUIDE
•
ITU-T: The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is an interna-
tional organization within the United Nations System where governments and
the private sector coordinate global telecom networks and services. The ITU
Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) is one of the three sec-
tors of the ITU. ITU-T’s mission is the production of standards covering all
fields of telecommunications.
•
ATM Forum: The ATM Forum is an international nonprofit organization
formed with the objective of accelerating the use of ATM (asynchronous
transfer mode) products and services through a rapid convergence of interop-
erability specifications. In addition, the Forum promotes industry cooperation
and awareness.
•
ISO: The International Organization for Standardization (ISO)1 is a world-
wide federation of national standards bodies from more than 140 countries,
one from each country. ISO is a nongovernmental organization that promotes
the development of standardization and related activities with a view to facili-
tating the international exchange of goods and services, and to developing
cooperation in the spheres of intellectual, scientific, technological, and eco-
nomic activity. ISO’s work results in international agreements that are pub-
lished as International Standards.
A more detailed discussion of these organizations is contained in Appendix D.
1ISO is not an acronym (in which case it would be IOS), but a word, derived from the Greek, meaning
equal.
PART ONE
Overview
The purpose of Part One is to provide a background and context for the
remainder of this book. The broad range of topics that are encompassed in the
field of data and computer communications is introduced, and the fundamental
concepts of protocols and protocol architectures are examined.
ROAD MAP FOR PART ONE
Chapter 1 Data Communications, Data Networks, and
The Internet
Chapter 1 provides an overview of Parts Two through Four of the book, giving the
“big picture.” In essence, the book deals with four topics: data communications
over a transmission link; wide area networks; local area networks; and protocols
and the TCP/IP protocol architecture. Chapter 1 provides a preview of the first
three of these topics.
Chapter 2 Protocol Architecture, TCP/IP, and
Internet-Based Applications
Chapter 2 discusses the concept protocol architectures. This chapter can be read
immediately following Chapter 1 or deferred until the beginning of Part Three,
Four, or Five. After a general introduction, the chapter deals with the two most
important protocol architectures: the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model
and TCP/IP. Although the OSI model is often used as the framework for discourse in
this area, it is the TCP/IP protocol suite that is the basis for most commercially avail-
able interoperable products and that is the focus of Parts Five and Six of this book.
9
CHAPTER1
DATA COMMUNICATIONS, DATA
NETWORKS, AND THE INTERNET
1.1
Data Communications and Networking for Today’s Enterprise
1.2
A Communications Model
1.3
Data Communications
1.4
Networks
1.5
The Internet
1.6
An Example Configuration
10
The fundamental problem of communication is that of reproducing at one
point either exactly or approximately a message selected at another point.
—The Mathematical Theory of Communication, Claude Shannon
KEY POINTS
• The scope of this book is broad, covering three general areas: data
communications, networking, and protocols; the first two are intro-
duced in this chapter.
• Data communications deals with the transmission of signals in a reli-
able and efficient manner. Topics covered include signal transmission,
transmission media, signal encoding, interfacing, data link control, and
multiplexing.
• Networking deals with the technology and architecture of the com-
munications networks used to interconnect communicating devices.
This field is generally divided into the topics of local area networks
(LANs) and wide area networks (WANs).
The 1970s and 1980s saw a merger of the fields of computer science and data
communications that profoundly changed the technology, products, and compa-
nies of the now combined computer-communications industry. The computer-
communications revolution has produced several remarkable facts:
• There is no fundamental difference between data processing (computers)
and data communications (transmission and switching equipment).
• There are no fundamental differences among data, voice, and video com-
munications.
• The distinction among single-processor computer, multiprocessor computer,
local network, metropolitan network, and long-haul network has blurred.
One effect of these trends has been a growing overlap of the computer and
communications industries, from component fabrication to system integration.
Another result is the development of integrated systems that transmit and process
all types of data and information. Both the technology and the technical standards
organizations are driving toward integrated public systems that make virtually all
data and information sources around the world easily and uniformly accessible.
This book aims to provide a unified view of the broad field of data and
computer communications. The organization of the book reflects an attempt to
break this massive subject into comprehensible parts and to build, piece by
piece, a survey of the state of the art. This introductory chapter begins with a
general model of communications. Then a brief discussion introduces each of
the Parts Two through Four of this book. Chapter 2 provides an overview to
Parts Five and Six
11
12
CHAPTER 1 / DATA COMMUNICATIONS, DATA NETWORKS, AND THE INTERNET
1.1
DATA COMMUNICATIONS AND NETWORKING FOR
TODAY’S ENTERPRISE
Effective and efficient data communication and networking facilities are vital to any
enterprise. In this section, we first look at trends that are increasing the challenge for
the business manager in planning and managing such facilities. Then we look specif-
ically at the requirement for ever-greater transmission speeds and network capacity.
Trends
Three different forces have consistently driven the architecture and evolution of
data communications and networking facilities: traffic growth, development of new
services, and advances in technology.
Communication traffic, both local (within a building or building complex) and
long distance, both voice and data, has been growing at a high and steady rate for
decades. The increasing emphasis on office automation, remote access, online
transactions, and other productivity measures means that this trend is likely to con-
tinue. Thus, managers are constantly struggling to maximize capacity and minimize
transmission costs.
As businesses rely more and more on information technology, the range of
services expands. This increases the demand for high-capacity networking and trans-
mission facilities. In turn, the continuing growth in high-speed network offerings
with the continuing drop in prices encourages the expansion of services. Thus,
growth in services and growth in traffic capacity go hand in hand. Figure 1.1 gives
some examples of information-based services and the data rates needed to support
them [ELSA02].
Finally, trends in technology enable the provision of increasing traffic capacity
and the support of a wide range of services. Four technology trends are particularly
notable:
1. The trend toward faster and cheaper, both in computing and communications,
continues. In terms of computing, this means more powerful computers and
clusters of computers capable of supporting more demanding applications,
such as multimedia applications. In terms of communications, the increasing
use of optical fiber has brought transmission prices down and greatly
increased capacity. For example, for long-distance telecommunication and
data network links, recent offerings of dense wavelength division multiplexing
(DWDM) enable capacities of many terabits per second. For local area net-
works (LANs) many enterprises now have Gigabit Ethernet backbone net-
works and some are beginning to deploy 10-Gbps Ethernet.
2. Both voice-oriented telecommunications networks, such as the public switched
telephone network (PSTN), and data networks, including the Internet, are more
“intelligent” than ever. Two areas of intelligence are noteworthy. First, today’s
networks can offer differing levels of quality of service (QoS), which include
specifications for maximum delay, minimum throughput, and so on. Second,
today’s networks provide a variety of customizable services in the areas of net-
work management and security.
1.1 / DATA COMMUNICATIONS AND NETWORKING FOR TODAY’S ENTERPRISE
13
Speed (kbps)
9.6
14.4
28
64
144
384
2000
Transaction processing
Messaging/text apps
Voice
Location services
Still image transfers
Internet/VPN access
Database access
Enhanced Web surfing
Low-quality video
Hifi audio
Large file transfer
Moderate video
Interactive entertainment
High-quality video
Performance:
VPN: virtual private
network
Poor
Adequate
Good
Figure 1.1
Services versus Throughput Rates
3. The Internet, the Web, and associated applications have emerged as dominant
features of both the business and personal world, opening up many opportunities
and challenges for managers. In addition to exploiting the Internet and the Web
to reach customers, suppliers, and partners, enterprises have formed intranets and
extranets1 to isolate their proprietary information free from unwanted access.
4. There has been a trend toward ever-increasing mobility for decades, liberating
workers from the confines of the physical enterprise. Innovations include
voice mail, remote data access, pagers, fax, e-mail, cordless phones, cell phones
and cellular networks, and Internet portals. The result is the ability of employ-
ees to take their business context with them as they move about. We are now
seeing the growth of high-speed wireless access, which further enhances the
ability to use enterprise information resources and services anywhere.
1Briefly, an intranet uses Internet and Web technology in an isolated facility internal to an enterprise; an
extranet extends a company’s intranet out onto the Internet to allow selected customers, suppliers, and
mobile workers to access the company’s private data and applications.
14
CHAPTER 1 / DATA COMMUNICATIONS, DATA NETWORKS, AND THE INTERNET
Data Transmission and Network Capacity Requirements
Momentous changes in the way organizations do business and process information
have been driven by changes in networking technology and at the same time have
driven those changes. It is hard to separate chicken and egg in this field. Similarly,
the use of the Internet by both businesses and individuals reflects this cyclic depen-
dency: the availability of new image-based services on the Internet (i.e., the Web)
has resulted in an increase in the total number of users and the traffic volume gen-
erated by each user. This, in turn, has resulted in a need to increase the speed and
efficiency of the Internet. On the other hand, it is only such increased speed that
makes the use of Web-based applications palatable to the end user.
In this section, we survey some of the end-user factors that fit into this equa-
tion. We begin with the need for high-speed LANs in the business environment,
because this need has appeared first and has forced the pace of networking develop-
ment. Then we look at business WAN requirements. Finally we offer a few words
about the effect of changes in commercial electronics on network requirements.
The Emergence of High-Speed LANs Personal computers and microcom-
puter workstations began to achieve widespread acceptance in business computing
in the early 1980s and have now achieved virtually the status of the telephone: an
essential tool for office workers. Until relatively recently, office LANs provided
basic connectivity services—connecting personal computers and terminals to main-
frames and midrange systems that ran corporate applications, and providing work-
group connectivity at the departmental or divisional level. In both cases, traffic
patterns were relatively light, with an emphasis on file transfer and electronic mail.
The LANs that were available for this type of workload, primarily Ethernet and
token ring, are well suited to this environment.
In the 1990s, two significant trends altered the role of the personal computer
and therefore the requirements on the LAN:
1. The speed and computing power of personal computers continued to enjoy explo-
sive growth. These more powerful platforms support graphics-intensive applica-
tions and ever more elaborate graphical user interfaces to the operating system.
2. MIS (management information systems) organizations have recognized the LAN
as a viable and essential computing platform, resulting in the focus on network
computing. This trend began with client/server computing, which has become a
dominant architecture in the business environment and the more recent Web-
focused intranet trend. Both of these approaches involve the frequent transfer of
potentially large volumes of data in a transaction-oriented environment.
The effect of these trends has been to increase the volume of data to be han-
dled over LANs and, because applications are more interactive, to reduce the
acceptable delay on data transfers. The earlier generation of 10-Mbps Ethernets and
16-Mbps token rings was simply not up to the job of supporting these requirements.
The following are examples of requirements that call for higher-speed LANs:
• Centralized server farms: In many applications, there is a need for user, or
client, systems to be able to draw huge amounts of data from multiple central-
ized servers, called server farms. An example is a color publishing operation, in
1.1 / DATA COMMUNICATIONS AND NETWORKING FOR TODAY’S ENTERPRISE
15
which servers typically contain tens of gigabytes of image data that must be
downloaded to imaging workstations. As the performance of the servers them-
selves has increased, the bottleneck has shifted to the network.
• Power workgroups: These groups typically consist of a small number of cooper-
ating users who need to draw massive data files across the network. Examples
are a software development group that runs tests on a new software version, or
a computer-aided design (CAD) company that regularly runs simulations of
new designs. In such cases, large amounts of data are distributed to several
workstations, processed, and updated at very high speed for multiple iterations.
• High-speed local backbone: As processing demand grows, LANs proliferate at
a site, and high-speed interconnection is necessary.
Corporate Wide Area Networking Needs As recently as the early 1990s, there
was an emphasis in many organizations on a centralized data processing model. In a
typical environment, there might be significant computing facilities at a few regional
offices, consisting of mainframes or well-equipped midrange systems. These centralized
facilities could handle most corporate applications, including basic finance, accounting,
and personnel programs, as well as many of the business-specific applications. Smaller,
outlying offices (e.g., a bank branch) could be equipped with terminals or basic personal
computers linked to one of the regional centers in a transaction-oriented environment.
This model began to change in the early 1990s, and the change accelerated
through the mid-1990s. Many organizations have dispersed their employees into multi-
ple smaller offices. There is a growing use of telecommuting. Most significant, the
nature of the application structure has changed. First client/server computing and,
more recently, intranet computing have fundamentally restructured the organizational
data processing environment.There is now much more reliance on personal computers,
workstations, and servers and much less use of centralized mainframe and midrange
systems. Furthermore, the virtually universal deployment of graphical user interfaces to
the desktop enables the end user to exploit graphic applications, multimedia, and other
data-intensive applications. In addition, most organizations require access to the Inter-
net. When a few clicks of the mouse can trigger huge volumes of data, traffic patterns
have become more unpredictable while the average load has risen.
All of these trends means that more data must be transported off premises and
into the wide area. It has long been accepted that in the typical business environ-
ment, about 80% of the traffic remains local and about 20% traverses wide area
links. But this rule no longer applies to most companies, with a greater percentage of
the traffic going into the WAN environment [COHE96]. This traffic flow shift places
a greater burden on LAN backbones and, of course, on the WAN facilities used by a
corporation. Thus, just as in the local area, changes in corporate data traffic patterns
are driving the creation of high-speed WANs.
Digital Electronics The rapid conversion of consumer electronics to digital
technology is having an impact on both the Internet and corporate intranets. As
these new gadgets come into view and proliferate, they dramatically increase the
amount of image and video traffic carried by networks.
Two noteworthy examples of this trend are digital versatile disks (DVDs) and
digital still cameras. With the capacious DVD, the electronics industry has at last
16
CHAPTER 1 / DATA COMMUNICATIONS, DATA NETWORKS, AND THE INTERNET
found an acceptable replacement for the analog VHS videotape. The DVD has
replaced the videotape used in videocassette recorders (VCRs) and replaced the
CD-ROM in personal computers and servers. The DVD takes video into the digital
age. It delivers movies with picture quality that outshines laser disks, and it can be
randomly accessed like audio CDs, which DVD machines can also play. Vast vol-
umes of data can be crammed onto the disk, currently seven times as much as a CD-
ROM. With DVD’s huge storage capacity and vivid quality, PC games have become
more realistic and educational software incorporates more video. Following in the
wake of these developments is a new crest of traffic over the Internet and corporate
intranets, as this material is incorporated into Web sites.
A related product development is the digital camcorder. This product has
made it easier for individuals and companies to make digital video files to be placed
on corporate and Internet Web sites, again adding to the traffic burden.
1.2
A COMMUNICATIONS MODEL
This section introduces a simple model of communications, illustrated by the block
diagram in Figure 1.2a.
The fundamental purpose of a communications system is the exchange of data
between two parties. Figure 1.2b presents one particular example, which is commu-
nication between a workstation and a server over a public telephone network.
Another example is the exchange of voice signals between two telephones over the
same network. The key elements of the model are as follows:
• Source. This device generates the data to be transmitted; examples are tele-
phones and personal computers.
Source system
Destination system
Trans-
Trans-
Source
mission
Receiver
Destination
mitter
System
(a) General block diagram
Workstation
Modem
Modem
Server
Public telephone network
(b) Example
Figure 1.2
Simplified Communications Model
1.2 / A COMMUNICATIONS MODEL
17
• Transmitter: Usually, the data generated by a source system are not transmit-
ted directly in the form in which they were generated. Rather, a transmitter
transforms and encodes the information in such a way as to produce electro-
magnetic signals that can be transmitted across some sort of transmission sys-
tem. For example, a modem takes a digital bit stream from an attached device
such as a personal computer and transforms that bit stream into an analog sig-
nal that can be handled by the telephone network.
• Transmission system: This can be a single transmission line or a complex net-
work connecting source and destination.
• Receiver: The receiver accepts the signal from the transmission system and
converts it into a form that can be handled by the destination device. For
example, a modem will accept an analog signal coming from a network or
transmission line and convert it into a digital bit stream.
• Destination: Takes the incoming data from the receiver.
This simple narrative conceals a wealth of technical complexity. To get some
idea of the scope of this complexity, Table 1.1 lists some of the key tasks that must be
performed in a data communications system. The list is somewhat arbitrary: Ele-
ments could be added; items on the list could be merged; and some items represent
several tasks that are performed at different “levels” of the system. However, the list
as it stands is suggestive of the scope of this book.
The first item, transmission system utilization, refers to the need to make
efficient use of transmission facilities that are typically shared among a number of
communicating devices. Various techniques (referred to as multiplexing) are used to
allocate the total capacity of a transmission medium among a number of users.
Congestion control techniques may be required to assure that the system is not
overwhelmed by excessive demand for transmission services.
To communicate, a device must interface with the transmission system. All the
forms of communication discussed in this book depend on the use of electromagnetic
signals propagated over a transmission medium. Thus, once an interface is estab-
lished, signal generation is required for communication. The properties of the signal,
such as form and intensity, must be such that the signal is (1) capable of being propa-
gated through the transmission system, and (2) interpretable as data at the receiver.
Not only must the signals be generated to conform to the requirements of the
transmission system and receiver, but also there must be some form of synchronization
Table 1.1
Communications Tasks
Transmission system utilization
Addressing
Interfacing
Routing
Signal generation
Recovery
Synchronization
Message formatting
Exchange management
Security
Error detection and correction
Network management
Flow control
18
CHAPTER 1 / DATA COMMUNICATIONS, DATA NETWORKS, AND THE INTERNET
between transmitter and receiver.The receiver must be able to determine when a signal
begins to arrive and when it ends. It must also know the duration of each signal element.
Beyond the basic matter of deciding on the nature and timing of signals, there is
a variety of requirements for communication between two parties that might be col-
lected under the term exchange management. If data are to be exchanged in both
directions over a period of time, the two parties must cooperate. For example, for two
parties to engage in a telephone conversation, one party must dial the number of the
other, causing signals to be generated that result in the ringing of the called phone.The
called party completes a connection by lifting the receiver. For data processing
devices, more will be needed than simply establishing a connection; certain conven-
tions must be decided on. These conventions may include whether both devices may
transmit simultaneously or must take turns, the amount of data to be sent at one time,
the format of the data, and what to do if certain contingencies such as an error arise.
The next two items might have been included under exchange management,
but they seem important enough to list separately. In all communications systems,
there is a potential for error; transmitted signals are distorted to some extent before
reaching their destination. Error detection and correction are required in circum-
stances where errors cannot be tolerated. This is usually the case with data process-
ing systems. For example, in transferring a file from one computer to another, it is
simply not acceptable for the contents of the file to be accidentally altered. Flow
control is required to assure that the source does not overwhelm the destination by
sending data faster than they can be processed and absorbed.
Next are the related but distinct concepts of addressing and routing. When
more than two devices share a transmission facility, a source system must indicate
the identity of the intended destination. The transmission system must assure that
the destination system, and only that system, receives the data. Further, the trans-
mission system may itself be a network through which various paths may be taken.
A specific route through this network must be chosen.
Recovery is a concept distinct from that of error correction. Recovery techniques
are needed in situations in which an information exchange, such as a database transac-
tion or file transfer, is interrupted due to a fault somewhere in the system. The objective
is either to be able to resume activity at the point of interruption or at least to restore
the state of the systems involved to the condition prior to the beginning of the exchange.
Message formatting has to do with an agreement between two parties as to the
form of the data to be exchanged or transmitted, such as the binary code for characters.
Frequently, it is important to provide some measure of security in a data com-
munications system. The sender of data may wish to be assured that only the
intended receiver actually receives the data. And the receiver of data may wish to be
assured that the received data have not been altered in transit and that the data
actually come from the purported sender.
Finally, a data communications facility is a complex system that cannot create or
run itself. Network management capabilities are needed to configure the system, mon-
itor its status, react to failures and overloads, and plan intelligently for future growth.
Thus, we have gone from the simple idea of data communication between
source and destination to a rather formidable list of data communications tasks. In
this book, we elaborate this list of tasks to describe and encompass the entire set of
activities that can be classified under data and computer communications.
1.3 / DATA COMMUNICATIONS
19
1.3
DATA COMMUNICATIONS
Following Part One, this book is organized into five parts. Part Two deals with the
most fundamental aspects of the communications function, focusing on the trans-
mission of signals in a reliable and efficient manner. For want of a better name, we
have given Part Two the title “Data Communications,” although that term arguably
encompasses some or even all of the topics of Parts Three through Six.
A Data Communications Model
To get some flavor for the focus of Part Two, Figure 1.3 provides a new perspective
on the communications model of Figure 1.2a. We trace the details of this figure using
electronic mail as an example.
Suppose that the input device and transmitter are components of a personal
computer. The user of the PC wishes to send a message m to another user. The user
activates the electronic mail package on the PC and enters the message via the key-
board (input device). The character string is briefly buffered in main memory. We
can view it as a sequence of bits (g) in memory. The personal computer is connected
to some transmission medium, such as a local network or a telephone line, by an I/O
device (transmitter), such as a local network transceiver or a modem. The input data
are transferred to the transmitter as a sequence of voltage shifts [g(t)] representing
bits on some communications bus or cable. The transmitter is connected directly to
the medium and converts the incoming stream [g(t)] into a signal [s(t)] suitable for
transmission; specific alternatives will be described in Chapter 5.
The transmitted signal s(t) presented to the medium is subject to a number
of impairments, discussed in Chapter 3, before it reaches the receiver. Thus, the
received signal r(t) may differ from s(t). The receiver will attempt to estimate
the original s(t), based on r(t) and its knowledge of the medium, producing a
sequence of bits
These bits are sent to the output personal computer, where
g¿1t2.
they are briefly buffered in memory as a block of bits
In many cases, the
1g¿2.
destination system will attempt to determine if an error has occurred and, if so,
cooperate with the source system to eventually obtain a complete, error-free block
of data. These data are then presented to the user via an output device, such as a
Digital bit
Analog
Analog
Digital bit
stream
signal
signal
stream
Text
Text
Trans-
Trans-
Source
mission
Receiver
Destination
mitter
System
1
2
3
4
5
6
Input
Input data
Transmitted
Received
Output data
Output
information
g(t)
signal
signal
g'(t)
information
m
s(t)
r(t)
m'
Figure 1.3
Simplified Data Communications Model
20
CHAPTER 1 / DATA COMMUNICATIONS, DATA NETWORKS, AND THE INTERNET
printer or screen. The message
as viewed by the user will usually be an exact
1m¿2
copy of the original message (m).
Now consider a telephone conversation. In this case the input to the telephone
is a message (m) in the form of sound waves. The sound waves are converted by the
telephone into electrical signals of the same frequency. These signals are transmitted
without modification over the telephone line. Hence the input signal g(t) and the
transmitted signal s(t) are identical. The signals (t) will suffer some distortion over
the medium, so that r(t) will not be identical to s(t). Nevertheless, the signal r(t) is
converted back into a sound wave with no attempt at correction or improvement of
signal quality. Thus,
is not an exact replica of m. However, the received sound
m¿
message is generally comprehensible to the listener.
The discussion so far does not touch on other key aspects of data communica-
tions, including data link control techniques for controlling the flow of data and detect-
ing and correcting errors, and multiplexing techniques for transmission efficiency.
The Transmission of Information
The basic building block of any communications facility is the transmission line.
Much of the technical detail of how information is encoded and transmitted across a
line is of no real interest to the business manager. The manager is concerned with
whether the particular facility provides the required capacity, with acceptable relia-
bility, at minimum cost. However, there are certain aspects of transmission technol-
ogy that a manager must understand to be able to ask the right questions and make
informed decisions.
One of the basic choices facing a business user is the transmission medium. For
use within the business premises, this choice is generally completely up to the busi-
ness. For long-distance communications, the choice is generally but not always made
by the long-distance carrier. In either case, changes in technology are rapidly chang-
ing the mix of media used. Of particular note are fiber optic transmission and
wireless transmission (e.g., satellite and radio). These two media are now driving the
evolution of data communications transmission.
The ever-increasing capacity of fiber optic channels is making channel capac-
ity a virtually free resource. The growth of the market for optical fiber transmission
systems since the beginning of the 1980s is without precedent. During the past
10 years, the cost of fiber optic transmission has dropped by more than an order of
magnitude, and the capacity of such systems has grown at almost as rapid a rate.
Long-distance telephone communications trunks within the United States will soon
consist almost completely of fiber optic cable. Because of its high capacity and
because of its security characteristics—fiber is almost impossible to tap—it is
becoming increasingly used within office buildings to carry the growing load of busi-
ness information. However, switching is now becoming the bottleneck. This problem
is causing radical changes in communications architecture, including asynchronous
transfer mode (ATM) switching, highly parallel processing in switches, and inte-
grated network management schemes.
The second medium—wireless transmission—is a result of the trend toward
universal personal telecommunications and universal access to communications.
The first concept refers to the ability of a person to identify himself or herself easily
1.3 / DATA COMMUNICATIONS
21
and to use conveniently any communication system in a large area (e.g., globally,
over a continent, or in an entire country) in terms of a single account. The second
refers to the capability of using one’s terminal in a wide variety of environments to
connect to information services (e.g., to have a portable terminal that will work in
the office, on the street, and on airplanes equally well). This revolution in personal
computing obviously involves wireless communication in a fundamental way.
Despite the growth in the capacity and the drop in cost of transmission facili-
ties, transmission services remain the most costly component of a communications
budget for most businesses. Thus, the manager needs to be aware of techniques that
increase the efficiency of the use of these facilities. The two major approaches to
greater efficiency are multiplexing and compression. Multiplexing refers to the abil-
ity of a number of devices to share a transmission facility. If each device needs the
facility only a fraction of the time, then a sharing arrangement allows the cost of the
facility to be spread over many users. Compression, as the name indicates, involves
squeezing the data down so that a lower-capacity, cheaper transmission facility can
be used to meet a given demand. These two techniques show up separately and in
combination in a number of types of communications equipment. The manager
needs to understand these technologies to be able to assess the appropriateness and
cost-effectiveness of the various products on the market.
Transmission and Transmission Media Information can be communicated
by converting it into an electromagnetic signal and transmitting that signal over some
medium, such as a twisted-pair telephone line. The most commonly used transmis-
sion media are twisted-pair lines, coaxial cable, optical fiber cable, and terrestrial and
satellite microwave. The data rates that can be achieved and the rate at which errors
can occur depend on the nature of the signal and the type of medium. Chapters 3 and
4 examine the significant properties of electromagnetic signals and compare the var-
ious transmission media in terms of cost, performance, and applications.
Communication Techniques The transmission of information across a trans-
mission medium involves more than simply inserting a signal on the medium. The
technique used to encode the information into an electromagnetic signal must be
determined. There are various ways in which the encoding can be done, and the
choice affects performance and reliability. Furthermore, the successful transmission
of information involves a high degree of cooperation between the various compo-
nents. The interface between a device and the transmission medium must be agreed
on. Some means of controlling the flow of information and recovering from its loss
or corruption must be used. These latter functions are performed by a data link con-
trol protocol. All these issues are examined in Chapters 5 through 7.
Transmission Efficiency A major cost in any computer/communications facility
is transmission cost. Because of this, it is important to maximize the amount of infor-
mation that can be carried over a given resource or, alternatively, to minimize the
transmission capacity needed to satisfy a given information communications require-
ment. Two ways of achieving this objective are multiplexing and compression. The two
techniques can be used separately or in combination. Chapter 8 examines the three
most common multiplexing techniques—frequency division, synchronous time divi-
sion, and statistical time division—as well as the important compression techniques.
22
CHAPTER 1 / DATA COMMUNICATIONS, DATA NETWORKS, AND THE INTERNET
1.4
NETWORKS
The number of computers in use worldwide is in the hundreds of millions. More-
over, the expanding memory and processing power of these computers means that
users can put the machines to work on new kinds of applications and functions.
Accordingly, the pressure from the users of these systems for ways to communicate
among all these machines is irresistible. It is changing the way vendors think and the
way all automation products and services are sold. This demand for connectivity is
manifested in two specific requirements: the need for communications software,
which is previewed in the next section, and the need for networks.
One type of network that has become ubiquitous is the local area network
(LAN). Indeed, the LAN is to be found in virtually all medium- and large-size office
buildings. As the number and power of computing devices have grown, so have the
number and capacity of LANs to be found in an office. Although standards have
been developed that reduce somewhat the number of types of LANs, there are still
half a dozen general types of local area networks to choose from. Furthermore, many
offices need more than one such network, with the attendant problems of intercon-
necting and managing a diverse collection of networks, computers, and terminals.
Beyond the confines of a single office building, networks for voice, data, image,
and video are equally important to business. Here, too, there are rapid changes.
Advances in technology have led to greatly increased capacity and the concept of
integration. Integration means that the customer equipment and networks can deal
simultaneously with voice, data, image, and even video. Thus, a memo or report can
be accompanied by voice commentary, presentation graphics, and perhaps even a
short video introduction or summary. Image and video services impose large
demands on wide area network transmission. Moreover, as LANs become ubiqui-
tous and as their transmission rates increase, the demands on the wide area networks
to support LAN interconnection have increased the demands on wide area network
capacity and switching. On the other hand, fortunately, the enormous and ever-
increasing capacity of fiber optic transmission provides ample resources to meet
these demands. However, developing switching systems with the capacity and rapid
response to support these increased requirements is a challenge not yet conquered.
The opportunities for using networks as an aggressive competitive tool and as
a means of enhancing productivity and slashing costs are great. The manager who
understands the technology and can deal effectively with vendors of service and
equipment is able to enhance a company’s competitive position.
In the remainder of this section, we provide a brief overview of various net-
works. Parts Three and Four cover these topics in depth.
Wide Area Networks
Wide area networks generally cover a large geographical area, require the crossing
of public right-of-ways, and rely at least in part on circuits provided by a common
carrier. Typically, a WAN consists of a number of interconnected switching nodes. A
transmission from any one device is routed through these internal nodes to the
specified destination device. These nodes (including the boundary nodes) are not
1.4 / NETWORKS
23
concerned with the content of the data; rather, their purpose is to provide a
switching facility that will move the data from node to node until they reach their
destination.
Traditionally, WANs have been implemented using one of two technologies:
circuit switching and packet switching. More recently, frame relay and ATM net-
works have assumed major roles.
Circuit Switching In a circuit-switching network, a dedicated communications
path is established between two stations through the nodes of the network. That
path is a connected sequence of physical links between nodes. On each link, a logi-
cal channel is dedicated to the connection. Data generated by the source station are
transmitted along the dedicated path as rapidly as possible. At each node, incoming
data are routed or switched to the appropriate outgoing channel without delay. The
most common example of circuit switching is the telephone network.
Packet Switching A quite different approach is used in a packet-switching net-
work. In this case, it is not necessary to dedicate transmission capacity along a path
through the network. Rather, data are sent out in a sequence of small chunks,
called packets. Each packet is passed through the network from node to node along
some path leading from source to destination. At each node, the entire packet is
received, stored briefly, and then transmitted to the next node. Packet-switching
networks are commonly used for terminal-to-computer and computer-to-computer
communications.
Frame Relay Packet switching was developed at a time when digital long-
distance transmission facilities exhibited a relatively high error rate compared to
today’s facilities. As a result, there is a considerable amount of overhead built into
packet-switching schemes to compensate for errors. The overhead includes addi-
tional bits added to each packet to introduce redundancy and additional processing
at the end stations and the intermediate switching nodes to detect and recover from
errors.
With modern high-speed telecommunications systems, this overhead is unnec-
essary and counterproductive. It is unnecessary because the rate of errors has been
dramatically lowered and any remaining errors can easily be caught in the end sys-
tems by logic that operates above the level of the packet-switching logic. It is coun-
terproductive because the overhead involved soaks up a significant fraction of the
high capacity provided by the network.
Frame relay was developed to take advantage of these high data rates and low
error rates. Whereas the original packet-switching networks were designed with a
data rate to the end user of about 64 kbps, frame relay networks are designed to
operate efficiently at user data rates of up to 2 Mbps. The key to achieving these
high data rates is to strip out most of the overhead involved with error control.
ATM Asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), sometimes referred to as cell relay,
is a culmination of developments in circuit switching and packet switching. ATM
can be viewed as an evolution from frame relay. The most obvious difference
between frame relay and ATM is that frame relay uses variable-length packets,
called frames, and ATM uses fixed-length packets, called cells. As with frame
relay, ATM provides little overhead for error control, depending on the inherent
24
CHAPTER 1 / DATA COMMUNICATIONS, DATA NETWORKS, AND THE INTERNET
reliability of the transmission system and on higher layers of logic in the end sys-
tems to catch and correct errors. By using a fixed packet length, the processing
overhead is reduced even further for ATM compared to frame relay. The result is
that ATM is designed to work in the range of 10s and 100s of Mbps, and in the
Gbps range.
ATM can also be viewed as an evolution from circuit switching. With circuit
switching, only fixed-data-rate circuits are available to the end system. ATM
allows the definition of multiple virtual channels with data rates that are dynami-
cally defined at the time the virtual channel is created. By using small, fixed-size
cells, ATM is so efficient that it can offer a constant-data-rate channel even
though it is using a packet-switching technique.Thus,ATM extends circuit switch-
ing to allow multiple channels with the data rate on each channel dynamically set
on demand.
Local Area Networks
As with WANs, a LAN is a communications network that interconnects a variety of
devices and provides a means for information exchange among those devices. There
are several key distinctions between LANs and WANs:
1. The scope of the LAN is small, typically a single building or a cluster of build-
ings. This difference in geographic scope leads to different technical solutions,
as we shall see.
2. It is usually the case that the LAN is owned by the same organization that owns
the attached devices. For WANs, this is less often the case, or at least a significant
fraction of the network assets is not owned. This has two implications. First, care
must be taken in the choice of LAN, because there may be a substantial capital
investment (compared to dial-up or leased charges for WANs) for both purchase
and maintenance. Second, the network management responsibility for a LAN
falls solely on the user.
3. The internal data rates of LANs are typically much greater than those of
WANs.
LANs come in a number of different configurations. The most common are
switched LANs and wireless LANs. The most common switched LAN is a switched
Ethernet LAN, which may consist of a single switch with a number of attached
devices, or a number of interconnected switches. Two other prominent examples are
ATM LANs, which simply use an ATM network in a local area, and Fibre Channel.
Wireless LANs use a variety of wireless transmission technologies and organiza-
tions. LANs are examined in depth in Part Four.
Wireless Networks
As was just mentioned, wireless LANs are common are widely used in business
environments. Wireless technology is also common for both wide area voice and
data networks. Wireless networks provide advantages in the areas of mobility and
ease of installation and configuration. Chapters 14 and 17 deal with wireless WANs
and LANs, respectively.
1.5 / THE INTERNET
25
1.5
THE INTERNET
Origins of the Internet
The Internet evolved from the ARPANET, which was developed in 1969 by the
Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) of the U.S. Department of Defense.
It was the first operational packet-switching network. ARPANET began operations
in four locations. Today the number of hosts is in the hundreds of millions, the num-
ber of users in the billions, and the number of countries participating nearing 200.
The number of connections to the Internet continues to grow exponentially.
The network was so successful that ARPA applied the same packet-switching
technology to tactical radio communication (packet radio) and to satellite com-
munication (SATNET). Because the three networks operated in very different
communication environments, the appropriate values for certain parameters, such
as maximum packet size, were different in each case. Faced with the dilemma of
integrating these networks, Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn of ARPA started to develop
methods and protocols for internetworking; that is, communicating across arbi-
trary, multiple, packet-switched networks. They published a very influential paper
in May of 1974 [CERF74] outlining their approach to a Transmission Control Pro-
tocol.The proposal was refined and details filled in by the ARPANET community,
with major contributions from participants from European networks, such as
Cyclades (France), and EIN, eventually leading to the TCP (Transmission Control
Protocol) and IP (Internet Protocol) protocols, which, in turn, formed the basis for
what eventually became the TCP/IP protocol suite. This provided the foundation
for the Internet.
Key Elements
Figure 1.4 illustrates the key elements that comprise the Internet. The purpose of
the Internet, of course, is to interconnect end systems, called hosts; these include
PCs, workstations, servers, mainframes, and so on. Most hosts that use the Internet
are connected to a network, such as a local area network (LAN) or a wide area net-
work (WAN). These networks are in turn connected by routers. Each router
attaches to two or more networks. Some hosts, such as mainframes or servers, con-
nect directly to a router rather than through a network.
In essence, the Internet operates as follows. A host may send data to another
host anywhere on the Internet. The source host breaks the data to be sent into a
sequence of packets, called IP datagrams or IP packets. Each packet includes a
unique numeric address of the destination host. This address is referred to as an IP
address, because the address is carried in an IP packet. Based on this destination
address, each packet travels through a series of routers and networks from source to
destination. Each router, as it receives a packet, makes a routing decision and for-
wards the packet along its way to the destination.
Internet Architecture
The Internet today is made up of thousands of overlapping hierarchical networks.
Because of this, it is not practical to attempt a detailed description of the exact
26
CHAPTER 1 / DATA COMMUNICATIONS, DATA NETWORKS, AND THE INTERNET
Router
Standalone
Wide area network
mainframe
(e.g., ATM)
Local area
network
Router
Router
Wide area network
(e.g., ATM)
Local area
Ethernet
network
switch
Ethernet
switch
Router
LAN PCs
Information
and workstations
server
Figure 1.4
Key Elements of the Internet
architecture or topology of the Internet. However, an overview of the common, gen-
eral characteristics can be made. Figure 1.5 illustrates the discussion and Table 1.2
summarizes the terminology.
A key element of the Internet is the set of hosts attached to it. Simply put, a
host is a computer. Today, computers come in many forms, including mobile phones
and even cars. All of these forms can be hosts on the Internet. Hosts are sometimes
grouped together in a LAN. This is the typical configuration in a corporate environ-
ment. Individual hosts and LANs are connected to an Internet service provider
(ISP) through a point of presence (POP). The connection is made in a series of steps
starting with the customer premises equipment (CPE). The CPE is the communica-
tions equipment located onsite with the host.
For many home users, the CPE is a 56-kbps modem. This is perfectly adequate
for e-mail and related services but marginal for graphics-intensive Web surfing.
Newer CPE offerings provide greater capacity and guaranteed service in some
cases. A sample of these new access technologies includes DSL, cable modem, and
satellite. Users who connect to the Internet through their work often use worksta-
tions or PCs connected to their employer-owned LANs, which in turn connect
through shared organizational trunks to an ISP. In these cases the shared circuit is
often a T-1 connection (1.544 Mbps), while for very large organizations T-3 connec-
tions (44.736 Mbps) are sometimes found. Alternatively, an organization’s LAN
1.5 / THE INTERNET
27
Corporate
LAN
Residential
subscribers
Backbone
Backbone
ISP
ISP
Regional
ISP
Server
ISP Web
farm
LAN
Regional
switch
ISP
Regional
ISP
Server
Server
Corporate
Open circle NAP
LAN
Filled circle POP
Figure 1.5
Simplified View of Portion of Internet
may be hooked to a wide area network (WAN), such as a frame relay network,
which in turn connects to an ISP.
The CPE is physically attached to the “local loop” or “last mile.”This is the infra-
structure between a provider’s installation and the site where the host is located. For
example, a home user with a 56K modem attaches the modem to the telephone line.
The telephone line is typically a pair of copper wires that runs from the house to a
central office (CO) owned and operated by the telephone company. In this instance
the local loop is the pair of copper wires running between the home and the CO. If the
home user has a cable modem, the local loop is the coaxial cable that runs from
the home to the cable company facilities. The preceding examples are a bit of an over-
simplification, but they suffice for this discussion. In many cases the wires that leave a
home are aggregated with wires from other homes and then converted to a different
media such as fiber. In these cases the term local loop still refers to the path from the
home to the CO or cable facility. The local loop provider is not necessarily the ISP. In
many cases the local loop provider is the telephone company and the ISP is a large,
national service organization. Often, however, the local loop provider is also the ISP.
The ISP provides access to its larger network through a POP. A POP is simply
a facility where customers can connect to the ISP network. The facility is sometimes
owned by the ISP, but often the ISP leases space from the local loop carrier. A POP
can be as simple as a bank of modems and an access server installed in a rack at the
CO. The POPs are usually spread out over the geographic area where the provider
28
CHAPTER 1 / DATA COMMUNICATIONS, DATA NETWORKS, AND THE INTERNET
Table 1.2
Internet Terminology
Central Office (CO)
The place where telephone companies terminate customer lines and locate switching equipment to interconnect
those lines with other networks.
Customer Premises Equipment (CPE)
Telecommunications equipment that is located on the customer’s premises (physical location) rather than on
the provider’s premises or in between. Telephone handsets, modems, cable TV set-top boxes, and digital
subscriber line routers are examples. Historically, this term referred to equipment placed at the customer’s end
of the telephone line and usually owned by the telephone company. Today, almost any end-user equipment can
be called customer premises equipment and it can be owned by the customer or by the provider.
Internet Service Provider (ISP)
A company that provides other companies or individuals with access to, or presence on, the Internet. An ISP
has the equipment and the telecommunication line access required to have a POP on the Internet for the
geographic area served. The larger ISPs have their own high-speed leased lines so that they are less dependent
on the telecommunication providers and can provide better service to their customers.
Network Access Point (NAP)
In the United States, a network access point (NAP) is one of several major Internet interconnection points that
serve to tie all the ISPs together. Originally, four NAPs—in New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and San
Francisco—were created and supported by the National Science Foundation as part of the transition from the
original U.S. government—financed Internet to a commercially operated Internet. Since that time, several new
NAPs have arrived, including WorldCom’s “MAE West” site in San Jose, California and ICS Network Systems’
“Big East.”
The NAPs provide major switching facilities that serve the public in general. Companies apply to use the
NAP facilities. Much Internet traffic is handled without involving NAPs, using peering arrangements and
interconnections within geographic regions.
Network Service Provider (NSP)
A company that provides backbone services to an Internet service provider (ISP). Typically, an ISP connects at
a point called an Internet exchange (IX) to a regional ISP that in turn connects to an NSP backbone.
Point of Presence (POP)
A site that has a collection of telecommunications equipment, usually refers to ISP or telephone company
sites. An ISP POP is the edge of the ISP’s network; connections from users are accepted and authenticated
here. An Internet access provider may operate several POPs distributed throughout its area of operation to
increase the chance that their subscribers will be able to reach one with a local telephone call. The largest
national ISPs have POPs all over the country.
offers service. The ISP acts as a gateway to the Internet, providing many important
services. For most home users, the ISP provides the unique numeric IP address
needed to communicate with other Internet hosts. Most ISPs also provide name res-
olution and other essential network services. The most important service an ISP pro-
vides, though, is access to other ISP networks. Access is facilitated by formal peering
agreements between providers. Physical access can be implemented by connecting
POPs from different ISPs. This can be done directly with a local connection if the
POPs are collocated or with leased lines when the POPs are not collocated. A more
commonly used mechanism is the network access point (NAP).
A NAP is a physical facility that provides the infrastructure to move data
between connected networks. In the United States, the National Science Foundation
(NSF) privatization plan called for the creation of four NAPs. The NAPs were built
and are operated by the private sector. The number of NAPs has grown significantly
1.6 / AN EXAMPLE CONFIGURATION
29
over the years, and the technology employed has shifted from Fiber Distributed
Data Interface (FDDI) and Ethernet to ATM and Gigabit Ethernet. Most NAPs
today have an ATM core. The networks connected at a NAP are owned and oper-
ated by network service providers (NSPs). A NSP can also be an ISP but this is not
always the case. Peering agreements are between NSPs and do not include the NAP
operator. The NSPs install routers at the NAP and connect them to the NAP infra-
structure. The NSP equipment is responsible for routing, and the NAP infrastructure
provides the physical access paths between routers.
A small hypothetical example can help make the picture clearer. In this exam-
ple there are two companies, one named A, Inc. and the other B, Inc. and they are
both NSPs. A, Inc. and B, Inc. have a peering agreement and they both install routers
in two NAPs, one located on the east coast of the United States and the other on the
west coast. There are also two other companies known as Y, Inc. and Z, Inc. and they
are both ISPs. Finally, there is a home user named Bob and a small company named
Small, Inc.
Small, Inc. has four hosts connected together into a LAN. Each of the four
hosts can communicate and share resources with the other three. Small, Inc. would
like access to a broader set of services so they contract with ISP Y, Inc. for a connec-
tion. Small, Inc. installs a CPE to drive a leased T-1 line into a Y, Inc. POP. Once the
CPE is connected, software automatically assigns a numeric address to each Small,
Inc. host. The Small, Inc. hosts can now communicate and share resources with any
other host connected to the larger ISP network. On the other side of the country,
Bob decides to contract with ISP Z, Inc. He installs a modem on his phone line to
dial into a Z, Inc. POP. Once the modem connects, a numeric address is automati-
cally assigned to his home computer. His computer can now communicate and share
resources with any other computer connected to the larger ISP network.
Bob’s home machine and the hosts owned by Small, Inc. cannot yet communi-
cate. This becomes possible when their respective ISPs contract with NSPs that have
a peering agreement. In this example, the ISP Y, Inc. decides to expand its service
coverage to the opposite coast and contracts with the NSP A, Inc. A, Inc. sells band-
width on its high-speed coast-to-coast network. The ISP Z, Inc. also wishes to expand
its service coverage and contracts with the NSP B, Inc. Like A, Inc., B, Inc. also sells
bandwidth on a high-speed coast-to-coast network. Because A, Inc. and B, Inc. have a
peering agreement and have implemented the agreement at two NAPs, Bob’s home
machine and the hosts of Small, Inc. can now communicate and share resources.
Although this example is contrived, in principle this is what the Internet is. The dif-
ferences are that the Internet has millions of hosts and many thousands of networks
using dozens of access technologies, including satellite, radio, leased T-1, and DSL.
1.6
AN EXAMPLE CONFIGURATION
To give some feel for the scope of concerns of Parts Two through Four, Figure 1.6
illustrates some of the typical communications and network elements in use today.
In the upper-left-hand portion of the figure, we see an individual residential user
connected to an Internet service provider (ISP) through some sort of subscriber
connection. Common examples of such a connection are the public telephone
30
CHAPTER 1 / DATA COMMUNICATIONS, DATA NETWORKS, AND THE INTERNET
Subscriber
connection
High-speed link
Residential
(e.g., SONET)
user
Internet service
provider (ISP)
Router
Internet
ATM
switch
High-speed
Firewall
link
host
ATM network
Ethernet
Router
switch
Private
Information
LAN PCs
server
and workstations
WAN
Figure 1.6
A Networking Configuration
network, for which the user requires a dial-up modem (e.g. a 56-kbps modem); a dig-
ital subscriber line (DSL), which provides a high-speed link over telephone lines
and requires a special DSL modem; and a cable TV facility, which requires a cable
modem. In each case, there are separate issues concerning signal encoding, error
control, and the internal structure of the subscribe network.
Typically, an ISP will consist of a number of interconnected servers (only a
single server is shown) connected to the Internet through a high-speed link. One
example of such a link is a SONET (synchronous optical network) line, described in
Chapter 8. The Internet consists of a number of interconnected routers that span
the globe. The routers forward packets of data from source to destination through
the Internet.
1.6 / AN EXAMPLE CONFIGURATION
31
The lower portion of Figure 1.6 shows a LAN implemented using a single
Ethernet switch. This is a common configuration at a small business or other small
organization. The LAN is connected to the Internet through a firewall host that pro-
vides security services. In this example the firewall connects to the Internet through
an ATM network. There is also a router off of the LAN hooked into a private WAN,
which might be a private ATM or frame relay network.
A variety of design issues, such as signal encoding and error control, relate to
the links between adjacent elements, such as between routers on the Internet or
between switches in the ATM network, or between a subscriber and an ISP. The
internal structure of the various networks (telephone, ATM, Ethernet) raises addi-
tional issues. We will be occupied in Parts Two through Four with the design features
suggested by Figure 1.6.
CHAPTER 2
PROTOCOL ARCHITECTURE,TCP/IP,
AND INTERNET-BASED APPLICATIONS
2.1
The Need for a Protocol Architecture
2.2
The TCP/IP Protocol Architecture
2.3
The OSI Model
2.4
Standardization Within a Protocol Architecure
2.5
Traditional Internet-Based Applications
2.6
Multimeda
2.7
Recommended Reading and Web Sites
2.8
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
Appendix 2A The Trivial File Transfer Protocol
32
2.1 / THE NEED FOR A PROTOCOL ARCHITECTURE
33
To destroy communication completely, there must be no rules in common
between transmitter and receiver—neither of alphabet nor of syntax.
—On Human Communication, Colin Cherry
KEY POINTS
• A protocol architecture is the layered structure of hardware and soft-
ware that supports the exchange of data between systems and supports
distributed applications, such as electronic mail and file transfer.
• At each layer of a protocol architecture, one or more common
protocols are implemented in communicating systems. Each protocol
provides a set of rules for the exchange of data between systems.
• The most widely used protocol architecture is the TCP/IP protocol
suite, which consists of the following layers: physical, network access,
internet, transport, and application.
• Another important protocol architecture is the seven-layer OSI model.
This chapter provides a context for the detailed material that follows. It shows
how the concepts of Parts Two through Five fit into the broader area of computer
networks and computer communications. This chapter may be read in its proper
sequence or it may be deferred until the beginning of Part Three, Four, or Five.1
We begin this chapter by introducing the concept of a layered protocol
architecture. We then examine the most important such architecture, the TCP/IP
protocol suite. TCP/IP is an Internet-based concept and is the framework for
developing a complete range of computer communications standards. Virtually
all computer vendors now provide support for this architecture. Another well-
known architecture is the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) reference model.
OSI is a standardized architecture that is often used to describe communications
functions but that is now rarely implemented. OSI is briefly introduced in this
chapter and examined in more detail in Appendix H.
2.1
THE NEED FOR A PROTOCOL ARCHITECTURE
When computers, terminals, and/or other data processing devices exchange data, the
procedures involved can be quite complex. Consider, for example, the transfer of a
file between two computers. There must be a data path between the two computers,
1The reader may find it helpful just to skim this chapter on a first reading and then reread it more care-
fully just before embarking on Part Five.
34
CHAPTER 2 / PROTOCOL ARCHITECTURE, TCP/IP, AND INTERNET-BASED
either directly or via a communication network. But more is needed. Typical tasks to
be performed are as follow:
1. The source system must either activate the direct data communication path or
inform the communication network of the identity of the desired destination
system.
2. The source system must ascertain that the destination system is prepared to
receive data.
3. The file transfer application on the source system must ascertain that the file
management program on the destination system is prepared to accept and store
the file for this particular user.
4. If the file formats used on the two systems are different, one or the other sys-
tem must perform a format translation function.
It is clear that there must be a high degree of cooperation between the two com-
puter systems. Instead of implementing the logic for this as a single module, the task is
broken up into subtasks, each of which is implemented separately. In a protocol archi-
tecture, the modules are arranged in a vertical stack. Each layer in the stack performs
a related subset of the functions required to communicate with another system. It
relies on the next lower layer to perform more primitive functions and to conceal the
details of those functions. It provides services to the next higher layer. Ideally, layers
should be defined so that changes in one layer do not require changes in other layers.
Of course, it takes two to communicate, so the same set of layered functions
must exist in two systems. Communication is achieved by having the corresponding,
or peer, layers in two systems communicate. The peer layers communicate by means
of formatted blocks of data that obey a set of rules or conventions known as a
protocol. The key features of a protocol are as follows:
• Syntax: Concerns the format of the data blocks
• Semantics: Includes control information for coordination and error handling
• Timing: Includes speed matching and sequencing
Appendix 2A provides a specific example of a protocol, the Internet standard
Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP).
2.2
THE TCP/IP PROTOCOL ARCHITECTURE
The TCP/IP protocol architecture is a result of protocol research and development
conducted on the experimental packet-switched network, ARPANET, funded by
the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and is generally
referred to as the TCP/IP protocol suite. This protocol suite consists of a large
collection of protocols that have been issued as Internet standards by the Internet
Activities Board (IAB). Appendix D provides a discussion of Internet standards.
The TCP/IP Layers
In general terms, communications can be said to involve three agents: applications,
computers, and networks. Examples of applications include file transfer and
2.2 / THE TCP/IP PROTOCOL ARCHITECTURE
35
electronic mail. The applications that we are concerned with here are distributed
applications that involve the exchange of data between two computer systems.
These applications, and others, execute on computers that can often support multi-
ple simultaneous applications. Computers are connected to networks, and the data
to be exchanged are transferred by the network from one computer to another.
Thus, the transfer of data from one application to another involves first getting the
data to the computer in which the application resides and then getting the data to
the intended application within the computer.With these concepts in mind, we can
organize the communication task into five relatively independent layers.
• Physical layer
• Network access layer
• Internet layer
• Host-to-host, or transport layer
• Application layer
The physical layer covers the physical interface between a data transmission
device (e.g., workstation, computer) and a transmission medium or network. This
layer is concerned with specifying the characteristics of the transmission medium,
the nature of the signals, the data rate, and related matters.
The network access layer is concerned with the exchange of data between an
end system (server, workstation, etc.) and the network to which it is attached. The
sending computer must provide the network with the address of the destination
computer, so that the network may route the data to the appropriate destination.
The sending computer may wish to invoke certain services, such as priority, that
might be provided by the network.The specific software used at this layer depends
on the type of network to be used; different standards have been developed for
circuit switching, packet switching (e.g., frame relay), LANs (e.g., Ethernet), and
others. Thus it makes sense to separate those functions having to do with network
access into a separate layer. By doing this, the remainder of the communications
software, above the network access layer, need not be concerned about the
specifics of the network to be used. The same higher-layer software should
function properly regardless of the particular network to which the computer is
attached.
The network access layer is concerned with access to and routing data across a
network for two end systems attached to the same network. In those cases where
two devices are attached to different networks, procedures are needed to allow data
to traverse multiple interconnected networks. This is the function of the internet
layer. The Internet Protocol (IP) is used at this layer to provide the routing function
across multiple networks. This protocol is implemented not only in the end systems
but also in routers. A router is a processor that connects two networks and whose
primary function is to relay data from one network to the other on its route from the
source to the destination end system.
Regardless of the nature of the applications that are exchanging data, there is
usually a requirement that data be exchanged reliably. That is, we would like to be
assured that all of the data arrive at the destination application and that the data
arrive in the same order in which they were sent. As we shall see, the mechanisms
36
CHAPTER 2 / PROTOCOL ARCHITECTURE, TCP/IP, AND INTERNET-BASED
for providing reliability are essentially independent of the nature of the applica-
tions. Thus, it makes sense to collect those mechanisms in a common layer shared by
all applications; this is referred to as the host-to-host layer, or transport layer. The
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is the most commonly used protocol to pro-
vide this functionality.
Finally, the application layer contains the logic needed to support the various
user applications. For each different type of application, such as file transfer, a sepa-
rate module is needed that is peculiar to that application.
Operation of TCP and IP
Figure 2.1 indicates how these protocols are configured for communications. To
make clear that the total communications facility may consist of multiple networks,
the constituent networks are usually referred to as subnetworks. Some sort of net-
work access protocol, such as the Ethernet logic, is used to connect a computer to a
subnetwork. This protocol enables the host to send data across the subnetwork to
another host or, if the target host is on another subnetwork, to a router that will for-
ward the data. IP is implemented in all of the end systems and the routers. It acts as
a relay to move a block of data from one host, through one or more routers, to
another host. TCP is implemented only in the end systems; it keeps track of the
blocks of data to assure that all are delivered reliably to the appropriate application.
Host A
Host B
App X
App Y
Port
App Y
App X
(service access point)
1
2
3
2
4
6
Logical connection
(TCP connection)
TCP
TCP
Global internet
address
IP
IP
Network access
Network access
protocol #1
protocol #2
Logical connection
Subnetwork attachment
Physical
point address
(e.g., virtual circuit)
Physical
Router J
IP
NAP 1
NAP 2
Network 1
Network 2
Physical
Physical
Figure 2.1
TCP/IP Concepts
2.2 / THE TCP/IP PROTOCOL ARCHITECTURE
37
For successful communication, every entity in the overall system must have a
unique address. Actually, two levels of addressing are needed. Each host on a
subnetwork must have a unique global internet address; this allows the data to be
delivered to the proper host. Each process with a host must have an address that is
unique within the host; this allows the host-to-host protocol (TCP) to deliver data to
the proper process. These latter addresses are known as ports.
Let us trace a simple operation. Suppose that a process, associated with port 3
at host A, wishes to send a message to another process, associated with port 2 at host
B. The process at A hands the message down to TCP with instructions to send it to
host B, port 2. TCP hands the message down to IP with instructions to send it to host
B. Note that IP need not be told the identity of the destination port. All it needs
to know is that the data are intended for host B. Next, IP hands the message down to
the network access layer (e.g., Ethernet logic) with instructions to send it to router J
(the first hop on the way to B).
To control this operation, control information as well as user data must be
transmitted, as suggested in Figure 2.2. Let us say that the sending process generates
a block of data and passes this to TCP. TCP may break this block into smaller pieces
to make it more manageable. To each of these pieces, TCP appends control informa-
tion known as the TCP header, forming a TCP segment. The control information is
to be used by the peer TCP protocol entity at host B. Examples of items in this
header include:
• Destination port: When the TCP entity at B receives the segment, it must
know to whom the data are to be delivered.
• Sequence number: TCP numbers the segments that it sends to a particular
destination port sequentially, so that if they arrive out of order, the TCP entity
at B can reorder them.
Application
User data
byte stream
TCP
TCP
header
segment
IP
IP
header
datagram
Network
Network-level
header
packet
Figure 2.2
Protocol Data Units (PDUs) in the TCP/IP Architecture
38
CHAPTER 2 / PROTOCOL ARCHITECTURE, TCP/IP, AND INTERNET-BASED
• Checksum: The sending TCP includes a code that is a function of the contents
of the remainder of the segment. The receiving TCP performs the same calcu-
lation and compares the result with the incoming code. A discrepancy results if
there has been some error in transmission.
Next, TCP hands each segment over to IP, with instructions to transmit it to B.
These segments must be transmitted across one or more subnetworks and relayed
through one or more intermediate routers. This operation, too, requires the use of
control information. Thus IP appends a header of control information to each seg-
ment to form an IP datagram. An example of an item stored in the IP header is the
destination host address (in this example, B).
Finally, each IP datagram is presented to the network access layer for trans-
mission across the first subnetwork in its journey to the destination. The network
access layer appends its own header, creating a packet, or frame. The packet is trans-
mitted across the subnetwork to router J. The packet header contains the informa-
tion that the subnetwork needs to transfer the data across the subnetwork.
Examples of items that may be contained in this header include:
• Destination subnetwork address: The subnetwork must know to which attached
device the packet is to be delivered.
• Facilities requests: The network access protocol might request the use of certain
subnetwork facilities, such as priority.
At router J, the packet header is stripped off and the IP header examined. On
the basis of the destination address information in the IP header, the IP module in
the router directs the datagram out across subnetwork 2 to B. To do this, the data-
gram is again augmented with a network access header.
When the data are received at B, the reverse process occurs. At each layer, the
corresponding header is removed, and the remainder is passed on to the next higher
layer, until the original user data are delivered to the destination process.
TCP and UDP
For most applications running as part of the TCP/IP protocol architecture, the trans-
port layer protocol is TCP. TCP provides a reliable connection for the transfer of
data between applications. A connection is simply a temporary logical association
between two entities in different systems. A logical connection refers to a given pair
of port values. For the duration of the connection each entity keeps track of TCP
segments coming and going to the other entity, in order to regulate the flow of seg-
ments and to recover from lost or damaged segments.
Figure 2.3a shows the header format for TCP, which is a minimum of 20 octets,
or 160 bits. The Source Port and Destination Port fields identify the applications at
the source and destination systems that are using this connection. The Sequence
Number, Acknowledgment Number, and Window fields provide flow control and
error control. The checksum is a 16-bit frame check sequence used to detect errors
in the TCP segment. Chapter 20 provides more details.
In addition to TCP, there is one other transport-level protocol that is in com-
mon use as part of the TCP/IP protocol suite: the User Datagram Protocol (UDP).
UDP does not guarantee delivery, preservation of sequence, or protection against
2.2 / THE TCP/IP PROTOCOL ARCHITECTURE
39
Bit:
0
4
8
16
31
Source port
Destination port
Sequence number
Acknowledgment number
Header
Reserved
Flags
Window
length
Checksum
Urgent pointer
Options padding
(a) TCP header
Bit:
0
16
31
Source port
Destination port
Segment length
Checksum
(b) UDP header
Figure 2.3
TCP and UDP Headers
duplication. UDP enables a procedure to send messages to other procedures with a
minimum of protocol mechanism. Some transaction-oriented applications make use
of UDP; one example is SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol), the stan-
dard network management protocol for TCP/IP networks. Because it is connection-
less, UDP has very little to do. Essentially, it adds a port addressing capability to IP.
This is best seen by examining the UDP header, shown in Figure 2.3b. UDP also
includes a checksum to verify that no error occurs in the data; the use of the check-
sum is optional.
IP and IPv6
For decades, the keystone of the TCP/IP protocol architecture has been IP. Figure 2.4a
shows the IP header format, which is a minimum of 20 octets, or 160 bits. The
header, together with the segment from the transport layer, forms an IP-level PDU
referred to as an IP datagram or an IP packet. The header includes 32-bit source and
destination addresses. The Header Checksum field is used to detect errors in the
header to avoid misdelivery. The Protocol field indicates which higher-layer proto-
col is using IP. The ID, Flags, and Fragment Offset fields are used in the fragmenta-
tion and reassembly process. Chapter 18 provides more detail.
In 1995, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), which develops protocol
standards for the Internet, issued a specification for a next-generation IP, known
then as IPng. This specification was turned into a standard in 1996 known as IPv6.
IPv6 provides a number of functional enhancements over the existing IP, designed
40
CHAPTER 2 / PROTOCOL ARCHITECTURE, TCP/IP, AND INTERNET-BASED
Bit:
0
4
8
14
16
19
31
Version
IHL
DS
ECN
Total Length
Identification
Flags
Fragment offset
Time to Live
Protocol
Header checksum
Source address
Destination address
Options padding
(a) IPv4 header
Bit:
0
4
10
12
16
24
31
Version
DS
ECN
Flow label
Payload length
Next header
Hop limit
Source address
Destination address
(b) IPv6 header
DS Differentiated services field
Note: The 8-bit DS/ECN fields were formerly
ECN Explicit congestion notification field
known as the Type of Service field in the IPv4
header and the Traffic Class field in the IPv6
header.
Figure 2.4
IP Headers
to accommodate the higher speeds of today’s networks and the mix of data streams,
including graphic and video, that are becoming more prevalent. But the driving
force behind the development of the new protocol was the need for more addresses.
The current IP uses a 32-bit address to specify a source or destination. With the
explosive growth of the Internet and of private networks attached to the Internet,
this address length became insufficient to accommodate all systems needing
addresses. As Figure 2.4b shows, IPv6 includes 128-bit source and destination
address fields.
Ultimately, all installations using TCP/IP are expected to migrate from the
current IP to IPv6, but this process will take many years, if not decades.
2.2 / THE TCP/IP PROTOCOL ARCHITECTURE
41
TCP/IP Applications
A number of applications have been standardized to operate on top of TCP. We
mention three of the most common here.
The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) provides a basic electronic mail
transport facility. It provides a mechanism for transferring messages among sepa-
rate hosts. Features of SMTP include mailing lists, return receipts, and forwarding.
The SMTP protocol does not specify the way in which messages are to be created;
some local editing or native electronic mail facility is required. Once a message is
created, SMTP accepts the message and makes use of TCP to send it to an SMTP
module on another host. The target SMTP module will make use of a local elec-
tronic mail package to store the incoming message in a user’s mailbox.
The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is used to send files from one system to
another under user command. Both text and binary files are accommodated, and the
protocol provides features for controlling user access. When a user wishes to engage
in file transfer, FTP sets up a TCP connection to the target system for the exchange
of control messages. This connection allows user ID and password to be transmitted
and allows the user to specify the file and file actions desired. Once a file transfer is
approved, a second TCP connection is set up for the data transfer. The file is trans-
ferred over the data connection, without the overhead of any headers or control
information at the application level. When the transfer is complete, the control con-
nection is used to signal the completion and to accept new file transfer commands.
TELNET provides a remote logon capability, which enables a user at a ter-
minal or personal computer to logon to a remote computer and function as if
directly connected to that computer.The protocol was designed to work with sim-
ple scroll-mode terminals. TELNET is actually implemented in two modules:
User TELNET interacts with the terminal I/O module to communicate with a
local terminal. It converts the characteristics of real terminals to the network
standard and vice versa. Server TELNET interacts with an application, acting as
a surrogate terminal handler so that remote terminals appear as local to the
application. Terminal traffic between User and Server TELNET is carried on a
TCP connection.
Protocol Interfaces Each layer in the TCP/IP protocol suite interacts with its
immediate adjacent layers. At the source, the application layer makes use of the ser-
vices of the end-to-end layer and provides data down to that layer. A similar rela-
tionship exists at the interface of the end-to-end and internet layers and at the
interface of the internet and network access layers. At the destination, each layer
delivers data up to the next higher layer.
This use of each individual layer is not required by the architecture. As
Figure 2.5 suggests, it is possible to develop applications that directly invoke the
services of any one of the layers. Most applications require a reliable end-to-end
protocol and thus make use of TCP. Some special-purpose applications do not
need the services of TCP. Some of these applications, such as the Simple Network
Management Protocol (SNMP), use an alternative end-to-end protocol known as
the User Datagram Protocol (UDP); others may make use of IP directly.Applica-
tions that do not involve internetworking and that do not need TCP have been
developed to invoke the network access layer directly.
42
CHAPTER 2 / PROTOCOL ARCHITECTURE, TCP/IP, AND INTERNET-BASED
MIME
BGP
FTP
HTTP
SMTP
TELNET
SNMP
TCP
UDP
ICMP
IGMP
OSPF
RSVP
IP
BGP
Border Gateway Protocol
OSPF Open Shortest Path First
FTP
File Transfer Protocol
RSVP Resource ReSerVation Protocol
HTTP
Hypertext Transfer Protocol
SMTP Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
ICMP
Internet Control Message Protocol
SNMP Simple Network Management Protocol
IGMP
Internet Group Management Protocol
TCP
Transmission Control Protocol
IP
Internet Protocol
UDP
User Datagram Protocol
MIME
Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension
Figure 2.5
Some Protocols in the TCP/IP Protocol Suite
2.3
THE OSI MODEL
The Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) reference model was developed by the
International Organization for Standardization (ISO)2 as a model for a computer
protocol architecture and as a framework for developing protocol standards. The
OSI model consists of seven layers:
• Application
• Presentation
• Session
• Transport
• Network
• Data link
• Physical
Figure 2.6 illustrates the OSI model and provides a brief definition of the functions
performed at each layer. The intent of the OSI model is that protocols be developed
to perform the functions of each layer.
2ISO is not an acronym (in which case it would be IOS), but a word, derived from the Greek isos,
meaning equal.
2.3 / THE OSI MODEL
43
Application
Provides access to the OSI environment for users and also
provides distributed information services.
Presentation
Provides independence to the application processes from
differences in data representation (syntax).
Session
Provides the control structure for communication between
applications; establishes, manages, and terminates
connections (sessions) between cooperating applications.
Transport
Provides reliable, transparent transfer of data between end
points; provides end-to-end error recovery and flow control.
Network
Provides upper layers with independence from the data
transmission and switching technologies used to connect
systems; responsible for establishing, maintaining, and
terminating connections.
Data Link
Provides for the reliable transfer of information across the
physical link; sends blocks (frames) with the necessary
synchronization, error control, and flow control.
Physical
Concerned with transmission of unstructured bit stream over
physical medium; deals with the mechanical, electrical,
functional, and procedural characteristics to access the
physical medium.
Figure 2.6
The OSI Layers
The designers of OSI assumed that this model and the protocols developed
within this model would come to dominate computer communications, eventually
replacing proprietary protocol implementations and rival multivendor models such as
TCP/IP. This has not happened. Although many useful protocols have been developed
in the context of OSI, the overall seven-layer model has not flourished. Instead, the
TCP/IP architecture has come to dominate.There are a number of reasons for this out-
come. Perhaps the most important is that the key TCP/IP protocols were mature and
well tested at a time when similar OSI protocols were in the development stage. When
businesses began to recognize the need for interoperability across networks, only
TCP/IP was available and ready to go. Another reason is that the OSI model is unnec-
essarily complex, with seven layers to accomplish what TCP/IP does with fewer layers.
Figure 2.7 illustrates the layers of the TCP/IP and OSI architectures, showing
roughly the correspondence in functionality between the two.
44
CHAPTER 2 / PROTOCOL ARCHITECTURE, TCP/IP, AND INTERNET-BASED
OSI
TCP/IP
Application
Application
Presentation
Session
Transport
Transport
(host-to-host)
Internet
Network
Network
Data link
access
Physical
Physical
Figure 2.7
A Comparison
of the OSI and TCP/IP
Protocol Architectures
2.4
STANDARDIZATION WITHIN A PROTOCOL ARCHITECURE
Standardization within the OSI Framework3
The principal motivation for the development of the OSI model was to provide a
framework for standardization. Within the model, one or more protocol stan-
dards can be developed at each layer. The model defines in general terms the
functions to be performed at that layer and facilitates the standards-making
process in two ways:
• Because the functions of each layer are well defined, standards can be devel-
oped independently and simultaneously for each layer. This speeds up the
standards-making process.
• Because the boundaries between layers are well defined, changes in standards
in one layer need not affect already existing software in another layer. This
makes it easier to introduce new standards.
Figure 2.8 illustrates the use of the OSI model as such a framework. The
overall communications function is decomposed into seven distinct layers. That
is, the overall function is broken up into a number of modules, making the inter-
faces between modules as simple as possible. In addition, the design principle of
information hiding is used: Lower layers are concerned with greater levels of
3The concepts introduced in this subsection apply as well to the TCP/IP architecture.
2.4 / STANDARDIZATION WITHIN A PROTOCOL ARCHITECURE
45
Layer 7
(application)
Service to
layer N
1
Total
Protocol
Layer N
communication
Layer N
with peer
entity
function
Decompose
layer N
(modularity,
information hiding)
Service from
layer N
1
Layer 1
(physical)
OSI-wide standards
(e.g., network management, security)
Figure 2.8
The OSI Architecture as a Framework for Standardization
detail; upper layers are independent of these details. Each layer provides services
to the next higher layer and implements a protocol to the peer layer in other
systems.
Figure 2.9 shows more specifically the nature of the standardization required
at each layer. Three elements are key:
• Protocol specification: Two entities at the same layer in different systems
cooperate and interact by means of a protocol. Because two different open
systems are involved, the protocol must be specified precisely. This includes
the format of the protocol data units exchanged, the semantics of all fields, and
the allowable sequence of PDUs.
• Service definition: In addition to the protocol or protocols that operate at a
given layer, standards are needed for the services that each layer provides to
the next higher layer. Typically, the definition of services is equivalent to a
functional description that defines what services are provided, but not how the
services are to be provided.
• Addressing: Each layer provides services to entities at the next higher layer.
These entities are referenced by means of a service access point (SAP). Thus, a
network service access point (NSAP) indicates a transport entity that is a user
of the network service.
46
CHAPTER 2 / PROTOCOL ARCHITECTURE, TCP/IP, AND INTERNET-BASED
Service definition
(functional description
for internal use)
Addressing
(service access point)
Protocol specification
Layer N
(precise syntax and
semantics for
interoperability)
Figure 2.9
Layer-Specific Standards
The need to provide a precise protocol specification for open systems is
self-evident.The other two items listed warrant further comment.With respect to
service definitions, the motivation for providing only a functional definition is as
follows. First, the interaction between two adjacent layers takes place within the
confines of a single open system and is not the concern of any other open system.
Thus, as long as peer layers in different systems provide the same services to their
next higher layers, the details of how the services are provided may differ
from one system to another without loss of interoperability. Second, it will
usually be the case that adjacent layers are implemented on the same processor.
In that case, we would like to leave the system programmer free to exploit
the hardware and operating system to provide an interface that is as efficient as
possible.
With respect to addressing, the use of an address mechanism at each layer,
implemented as a service access point, allows each layer to multiplex multiple users
from the next higher layer. Multiplexing may not occur at each layer, but the model
allows for that possibility.
Service Primitives and Parameters
The services between adjacent layers in the OSI architecture are expressed in
terms of primitives and parameters. A primitive specifies the function to be per-
formed, and the parameters are used to pass data and control information. The
actual form of a primitive is implementation dependent. An example is a proce-
dure call.
Four types of primitives are used in standards to define the interaction
between adjacent layers in the architecture. These are defined in Table 2.1. The lay-
out of Figure 2.10a suggests the time ordering of these events. For example, consider
2.4 / STANDARDIZATION WITHIN A PROTOCOL ARCHITECURE
47
Table 2.1
Service Primitive Types
Request
A primitive issued by a service user to invoke some service and to pass the parameters needed
to specify fully the requested service
Indication
A primitive issued by a service provider either to
1. indicate that a procedure has been invoked by the peer service user on the connection and
to provide the associated parameters, or
2. notify the service user of a provider-initiated action
Response
A primitive issued by a service user to acknowledge or complete some procedure previously
invoked by an indication to that user
Confirm
A primitive issued by a service provider to acknowledge or complete some procedure previously
invoked by a request by the service user
the transfer of data from an (N) entity to a peer (N) entity in another system. The
following steps occur:
1. The source (N) entity invokes its (N - 1) entity with a request primitive.
Associated with the primitive are the parameters needed, such as the data to
be transmitted and the destination address.
2. The source (N - 1) entity prepares an (N - 1) PDU to be sent to its peer (N - 1)
entity.
3. The destination (N - 1) entity delivers the data to the appropriate destination (N)
entity via an indication primitive, which includes the data and source address as
parameters.
4. If an acknowledgment is called for, the destination (N) entity issues a response
primitive to its (N - 1) entity.
5. The (N - 1) entity conveys the acknowledgment in an (N - 1) PDU.
6. The acknowledgment is delivered to the (N) entity as a confirm primitive.
Service user Service provider Service user
Service user Service provider Service user
Request
Request
Indication
Indication
Response
Confirm
(a) Confirmed service
(b) Nonconfirmed service
Figure 2.10
Time Sequence Diagrams for Service Primitives
48
CHAPTER 2 / PROTOCOL ARCHITECTURE, TCP/IP, AND INTERNET-BASED
This sequence of events is referred to as a confirmed service, as the initiator
receives confirmation that the requested service has had the desired effect at the
other end. If only request and indication primitives are involved (corresponding to
steps 1 through 3), then the service dialogue is a nonconfirmed service; the initiator
receives no confirmation that the requested action has taken place (Figure 2.10b).
2.5
TRADITIONAL INTERNET-BASED APPLICATIONS
A number of applications have been standardized to operate on top of TCP. We
mention three of the most common here.
The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) provides a basic electronic mail
transport facility. It provides a mechanism for transferring messages among sepa-
rate hosts. Features of SMTP include mailing lists, return receipts, and forwarding.
The SMTP protocol does not specify the way in which messages are to be created;
some local editing or native electronic mail facility is required. Once a message is
created, SMTP accepts the message and makes use of TCP to send it to an SMTP
module on another host. The target SMTP module will make use of a local elec-
tronic mail package to store the incoming message in a user’s mailbox.
The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is used to send files from one system to
another under user command. Both text and binary files are accommodated, and the
protocol provides features for controlling user access. When a user wishes to engage
in file transfer, FTP sets up a TCP connection to the target system for the exchange of
control messages. This connection allows user ID and password to be transmitted and
allows the user to specify the file and file actions desired. Once a file transfer is
approved, a second TCP connection is set up for the data transfer. The file is
transferred over the data connection, without the overhead of any headers or control
information at the application level. When the transfer is complete, the control con-
nection is used to signal the completion and to accept new file transfer commands.
TELNET provides a remote logon capability, which enables a user at a termi-
nal or personal computer to logon to a remote computer and function as if directly
connected to that computer. The protocol was designed to work with simple scroll-
mode terminals. TELNET is actually implemented in two modules: User TELNET
interacts with the terminal I/O module to communicate with a local terminal. It con-
verts the characteristics of real terminals to the network standard and vice versa.
Server TELNET interacts with an application, acting as a surrogate terminal han-
dler so that remote terminals appear as local to the application. Terminal traffic
between User and Server TELNET is carried on a TCP connection.
2.6
MULTIMEDA
With the increasing availability of broadband access to the Internet has come an
increased interest in Web-based and Internet-based multimedia applications. The
terms multimedia and multimedia applications are used rather loosely in the litera-
ture and in commercial publications, and no single definition of the term multimedia
has been agreed (e.g., [JAIN94], [GRIM91], [PURC98], [PACK99]). For our pur-
poses, the definitions in Table 2.2 provide a starting point.
2.6 / MULTIMEDA
49
Table 2.2
Multimedia Terminology
Media
Refers to the form of information and includes text, still images, audio, and video.
Multimedia
Human-computer interaction involving text, graphics, voice and video. Multimedia also refers to storage
devices that are used to store multimedia content.
Streaming media
Refers to multimedia files, such as video clips and audio, that begin playing immediately or within seconds
after it is received by a computer from the Internet or Web. Thus, the media content is consumed as it is
delivered from the server rather than waiting until an entire file is downloaded.
One way to organize the concepts associated with multimedia is to look at a
taxonomy that captures a number of dimensions of this field. Figure 2.11 looks at
multimedia from the perspective of three different dimensions: type of media,
applications, and the technology required to support the applications.
Media Types
Typically, the term multimedia refers to four distinct types of media: text, audio,
graphics, and video.
From a communications perspective, the term text is self-explanatory, referring to
information that can be entered via a keyboard and is directly readable and printable.
Text messaging, instant messaging, and text (non-html) e-mail are common examples, as
Technologies
Quality of service
Protocols
Communications/networking
Synchronization
Compression
User interface
Database
Operating system
Computer architecture
Media type
MM e-mail
Collaborative work systems
MM conferencing
Streaming audio/video
VoIP
Application
Figure 2.11
A Multimedia Taxonomy
50
CHAPTER 2 / PROTOCOL ARCHITECTURE, TCP/IP, AND INTERNET-BASED
are chat rooms and message boards. However, the term often is used in the broader
sense of data that can be stored in files and databases and that does not fit into the other
three categories. For example, an organization’s database my contain files of numerical
data, in which the data are stored in a more compact form than printable characters.
The term audio generally encompasses two different ranges of sound. Voice, or
speech, refers to sounds that are produced by the human speech mechanism. Gener-
ally, a modest bandwidth (under 4 kHz) is required to transmit voice. Telephony and
related applications (e.g., voice mail, audio teleconferencing, telemarketing) are the
most common traditional applications of voice communications technology. A
broader frequency spectrum is needed to support music applications, including the
download of music files.
The image service supports the communication of individual pictures, charts, or
drawings. Image-based applications include facsimile, computer-aided design (CAD),
publishing, and medical imaging. Images can be represented in a vector graphics for-
mat, such as is used in drawing programs and PDF files. In a raster graphics format,
an image is represented as a two-dimensional array of spots, called pixels.4 The
compressed JPG format is derived from a raster graphics format.
The video service carries sequences of pictures in time. In essence, video
makes use of a sequence of raster-scan images.
Multimedia Applications
The Internet, until recently, has been dominated by information retrieval applications,
e-mail, and file transfer, plus Web interfaces that emphasized text and images. Increas-
ingly, the Internet is being used for multimedia applications that involve massive
amounts of data for visualization and support of real-time interactivity. Streaming audio
and video are perhaps the best known of such applications. An example of an interac-
tive application is a virtual training environment involving distributed simulations and
real-time user interaction [VIN98]. Some other examples are shown in Table 2.3.
[GONZ00] lists the following multimedia application domains:
• Multimedia information systems: Databases, information kiosks, hypertexts,
electronic books, and multimedia expert systems
• Multimedia communication systems: Computer-supported collaborative work,
videoconferencing, streaming media, and multimedia teleservices
• Multimedia entertainment systems: 3D computer games, multiplayer network
games, infotainment, and interactive audiovisual productions
• Multimedia business systems: Immersive electronic commerce, marketing,
multimedia presentations, video brochures, virtual shopping, and so on.
• Multimedia educational systems: Electronic books, flexible teaching materials,
simulation systems, automatic testing, distance learning, and so on.
One point worth noting is highlighted in Figure 2.11. Although traditionally
the term multimedia has connoted the simultaneous use of multiple media types
(e.g., video annotation of a text document), the term has also come to refer to
applications that require real-time processing or communication of video or audio
4A pixel, or picture element, is the smallest element of a digital image that can be assigned a gray level.
Equivalently, a pixel is an individual dot in a dot-matrix representation of a picture.
2.6 / MULTIMEDA
51
Table 2.3
Domains of Multimedia Systems and Example Applications
Domain
Example Application
Information management
Hypermedia, multimedia-capable databases, content-based retrieval
Entertainment
Computer games, digital video, audio (MP3)
Telecommunication
Videoconferencing, shared workspaces, virtual communities
Information publishing/delivery
Online training, electronic books, streaming media
alone. Thus, voice over IP (VoIP), streaming audio, and streaming video are con-
sidered multimedia applications even though each involves a single media type.
Elastic and Inelastic Traffic
Before discussing multimedia technologies, it will be useful to look at a key consider-
ation, namely the type of network traffic generated by various media and applications.
Traffic on a network or internet can be divided into two broad categories: elas-
tic and inelastic. A consideration of their differing requirements clarifies the need
for an enhanced internet architecture.
Elastic traffic can adjust, over wide ranges, to changes in delay and through-
put across an internet and still meet the needs of its applications. This is the
traditional type of traffic supported on TCP/IP-based internets and is the type of
traffic for which internets were designed. With TCP, traffic on individual
connections adjusts to congestion by reducing the rate at which data are
presented to the network.
Elastic applications include common Internet-based applications, such as file
transfer, electronic mail, remote logon, network management, and Web access. But
there are differences among the requirements of these applications. For example,
• E-mail is generally quite insensitive to changes in delay.
• When file transfer is done online, as it frequently is, the user expects the delay
to be proportional to the file size and so is sensitive to changes in throughput.
• With network management, delay is generally not a serious concern. However,
if failures in an internet are the cause of congestion, then the need for network
management messages to get through with minimum delay increases with
increased congestion.
• Interactive applications, such as remote logon and Web access, are quite sensi-
tive to delay.
So, even if we confine our attention to elastic traffic, an Internet service that
can allocate resources to traffic streams based on need, rather than just providing
equal allocation, is useful.
Inelastic traffic does not easily adapt, if at all, to changes in delay and through-
put across an internet. The prime example is real-time traffic, such as voice and
video. The requirements for inelastic traffic may include the following:
• Throughput: A minimum throughput value may be required. Unlike most
elastic traffic, which can continue to deliver data with perhaps degraded ser-
vice, many inelastic applications require a firm minimum throughput.
52
CHAPTER 2 / PROTOCOL ARCHITECTURE, TCP/IP, AND INTERNET-BASED
• Delay: An example of a delay-sensitive application is stock trading; someone
who consistently receives later service will consistently act later, and with
greater disadvantage.
• Delay variation: The larger the allowable delay, the longer the real delay in
delivering the data and the greater the size of the delay buffer required at
receivers. Real-time interactive applications, such as teleconferencing, may
require a reasonable upper bound on delay variation.
• Packet loss: Real-time applications vary in the amount of packet loss, if any,
that they can sustain.
These requirements are difficult to meet in an environment with variable
queuing delays and congestion losses. Accordingly, inelastic traffic introduces two
new requirements into the internet architecture. First, some means is needed to give
preferential treatment to applications with more demanding requirements. Applica-
tions need to be able to state their requirements, either ahead of time in some sort of
service request function, or on the fly, by means of fields in the IP packet header. A
second requirement in supporting inelastic traffic in an internet architecture is that
elastic traffic must still be supported.
Multimedia Technologies
Figure 2.11 lists some of the technologies that are relevant to the support of
multimedia applications. As can be seen, a wide range of technologies is involved.
The lowest four items on the list are beyond the scope of this book. The other items
represent only a partial list of communications and networking technologies for
multimedia. These technologies and others are explored throughout the book. Here,
we give a brief comment on each area.
• Compression: Digitized video, and to a much lesser extent audio, can generate
an enormous amount of traffic on a network. A streaming application, which is
delivered to many users, magnifies the traffic. Accordingly, standards have
been developed for producing significant savings through compression. The
most notable such standards are JPG for still images and MPG for video.
Compression is examined in Part Six.
• Communications/networking: This broad category refers to the transmission
and networking technologies (e.g., SONET, ATM) that can support high-
volume multimedia traffic.
• Protocols: A number of protocols are instrumental in supporting multimedia
traffic. One example is the Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP), which is
designed to support inelastic traffic. RTP uses buffering and discarding strate-
gies to assure that real-time traffic is received by the end user in a smooth con-
tinuous stream. Another example is the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), an
application-level control protocol for setting up, modifying, and terminating
real-time sessions between participants over an IP data network.
• Quality of service (QoS): The Internet and its underlying local area and wide
area networks must include a QoS capability to provide differing levels of service
2.7 / RECOMMENDED READING AND WEB SITES
53
to different types of application traffic. A QoS capability can deal with priority,
delay constraints, delay variability constraints, and other similar requirements.
All of these matters are explored subsequently in this text.
2.7
RECOMMENDED READING AND WEB SITES
For the reader interested in greater detail on TCP/IP, there are two three-volume works that
are more than adequate. The works by Comer and Stevens have become classics and are
considered definitive [COME06, COME99, COME01]. The works by Stevens and Wright
are equally worthwhile and more detailed with respect to protocol operation [STEV94,
STEV96, WRIG95]. A more compact and very useful reference work is [RODR02], which
covers the spectrum of TCP/IP-related protocols in a technically concise but thorough fash-
ion, including coverage of some protocols not found in the other two works.
[GREE80] is a good tutorial overview of the concept of a layered protocol architec-
ture. Two early papers that provide good discussions of the design philosophy of the TCP/IP
protocol suite are [LEIN85] and [CLAR88].
Although somewhat dated, [FURH94] remains a good overview of multimedia topics.
[VOGE95] is a good introduction to QoS considerations for multimedia. [HELL01] is a
lengthy and worthwhile theoretical treatment of multimedia.
CLAR88
Clark, D. “The Design Philosophy of the DARPA Internet Protocols.” ACM
SIGCOMM Computer Communications Review, August 1988.
COME99
Comer, D., and Stevens, D. Internetworking with TCP/IP, Volume II: Design
Implementation, and Internals. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1994.
COME01
Comer, D., and Stevens, D. Internetworking with TCP/IP, Volume III: Client-
Server Programming and Applications. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2001.
COME06
Comer, D. Internetworking with TCP/IP, Volume I: Principles, Protocols, and
Architecture. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2006.
FURH94
Furht, B. “Multimedia Systems: An Overview.” IEEE Multimedia, Spring 1994.
GREE80
Green, P. “An Introduction to Network Architecture and Protocols.” IEEE
Transactions on Communications, April 1980.
HELL01
Heller, R., et al. “Using a Theoretical Multimedia Taxonomy Framework.”
ACM Journal of Educational Resources in Computing, Spring 2001.
LEIN85
Leiner, B.; Cole, R.; Postel, J.; and Mills, D. “The DARPA Internet Protocol
Suite.” IEEE Communications Magazine, March 1985.
RODR02
Rodriguez, A., et al. TCP/IP Tutorial and Technical Overview. Upper Saddle
River: NJ: Prentice Hall, 2002.
STEV94
Stevens, W. TCP/IP Illustrated, Volume
1: The Protocols. Reading, MA:
Addison-Wesley, 1994.
STEV96
Stevens, W. TCP/IP Illustrated, Volume 3: TCP for Transactions, HTTP, NNTP,
and the UNIX(R) Domain Protocol. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1996.
VOGE95
Vogel,A., et al.“Distributed Multimedia and QoS:A Survey.” IEEE Multimedia,
Summer 1995.
WRIG95
Wright, G., and Stevens, W. TCP/IP Illustrated, Volume 2: The Implementation.
Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1995.
54
CHAPTER 2 / PROTOCOL ARCHITECTURE, TCP/IP, AND INTERNET-BASED
Recommended Web sites:5
• TCP/IP Resources List: A useful collection of FAQs, tutorials, guides, Web sites, and
books about TCP/IP.
• Networking Links: Excellent collection of links related to TCP/IP.
• Bongo Project: Running IP over bongo drums. An excellent demonstration of the flex-
ibility of a layered protocol architecture and a source of ideas for projects.
2.8
KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
Key Terms
application layer
network layer
quality of service (QoS)
checksum
Open Systems Interconnec-
router
data link layer
tion (OSI)
service access point (SAP)
elastic traffic
peer layer
session layer
header
physical layer
subnetwork
inelastic traffic
port
Transmission Control Protocol
Internet
presentation layer
(TCP)
Internet Protocol (IP)
protocol
transport layer
Internetworking
protocol architecture
User Datagram Protocol
multimedia
protocol data unit (PDU)
(UDP)
Review Questions
2.1. What is the major function of the network access layer?
2.2. What tasks are performed by the transport layer?
2.3. What is a protocol?
2.4. What is a protocol data unit (PDU)?
2.5. What is a protocol architecture?
2.6. What is TCP/IP?
2.7. What are some advantages to layering as seen in the TCP/IP architecture?
2.8. What is a router?
2.9. Which version of IP is the most prevalent today?
2.10. Does all traffic running on the Internet use TCP?
2.11. Compare the address space between IPv4 and IPv6. How many bits are used in
each?
5Because URLs sometimes change, they are not included. For all of the Web sites listed in this and
subsequent chapters, the appropriate link is at this book’s Web site at williamstallings.com/DCC/
DCC8e.html.
2.8 / KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
55
Guests
Pizza cook
Host
Order clerk
Telephone
Telephone
Telephone line
Guests
Pizza cook
Host
Order clerk
Delivery van
Delivery van
Road
Figure 2.12
Architecture for Problem 2.1
Problems
2.1
Using the layer models in Figure 2.12, describe the ordering and delivery of a pizza,
indicating the interactions at each level.
2.2
a. The French and Chinese prime ministers need to come to an agreement by
telephone, but neither speaks the other’s language. Further, neither has on
hand a translator that can translate to the language of the other. However,
both prime ministers have English translators on their staffs. Draw a diagram
similar to Figure 2.12 to depict the situation, and describe the interaction and
each level.
b. Now suppose that the Chinese prime minister’s translator can translate only into
Japanese and that the French prime minister has a German translator available. A
translator between German and Japanese is available in Germany. Draw a new
diagram that reflects this arrangement and describe the hypothetical phone con-
versation.
2.3
List the major disadvantages with the layered approach to protocols.
2.4
Two blue armies are each poised on opposite hills preparing to attack a single red
army in the valley. The red army can defeat either of the blue armies separately but
will fail to defeat both blue armies if they attack simultaneously. The blue armies com-
municate via an unreliable communications system (a foot soldier). The commander
with one of the blue armies would like to attack at noon. His problem is this: If he
sends a message to the other blue army, ordering the attack, he cannot be sure it will
get through. He could ask for acknowledgment, but that might not get through. Is
there a protocol that the two blue armies can use to avoid defeat?
2.5
A broadcast network is one in which a transmission from any one attached station
is received by all other attached stations over a shared medium. Examples are a
bus-topology local area network, such as Ethernet, and a wireless radio network.
Discuss the need or lack of need for a network layer (OSI layer 3) in a broadcast
network.
2.6
In Figure 2.2, exactly one protocol data unit (PDU) in layer N is encapsulated in a
PDU at layer (N - 1). It is also possible to break one N-level PDU into multiple
(N - 1)-level PDUs (segmentation) or to group multiple N-level PDUs into one
(N - 1)-level PDU (blocking).
a. In the case of segmentation, is it necessary that each (N - 1)-level segment contain
a copy of the N-level header?
b. In the case of blocking, is it necessary that each N-level PDU retain its own
header, or can the data be consolidated into a single N-level PDU with a single
N-level header?
56
CHAPTER 2 / PROTOCOL ARCHITECTURE, TCP/IP, AND INTERNET-BASED
2.7
A TCP segment consisting of 1500 bits of data and 160 bits of header is sent to the IP
layer, which appends another 160 bits of header. This is then transmitted through two
networks, each of which uses a 24-bit packet header. The destination network has a
maximum packet size of 800 bits. How many bits, including headers, are delivered to
the network layer protocol at the destination?
2.8
Why is UDP needed? Why can’t a user program directly access IP?
2.9
IP, TCP, and UDP all discard a packet that arrives with a checksum error and do not
attempt to notify the source. Why?
2.10
Why does the TCP header have a header length field while the UDP header does
not?
2.11
The previous version of the TFTP specification, RFC 783, included the following
statement:
All packets other than those used for termination are acknowledged
individually unless a timeout occurs.
The RFC 1350 specification revises this to say:
All packets other than duplicate ACK’s and those used for termination
are acknowledged unless a timeout occurs.
The change was made to fix a problem referred to as the “Sorcerer’s Apprentice.”
Deduce and explain the problem.
2.12
What is the limiting factor in the time required to transfer a file using TFTP?
2.13
A user on a UNIX host wants to transfer a 4000-byte text file to a Microsoft Windows
host. In order to do this, he transfers the file by means of TFTP, using the netascii trans-
fer mode. Even though the transfer was reported as being performed successfully, the
Windows host reports the resulting file size is 4050 bytes, rather than the original 4000
bytes. Does this difference in the file sizes imply an error in the data transfer? Why or
why not?
2.14
The TFTP specification (RFC 1350) states that the transfer identifiers (TIDs) chosen
for a connection should be randomly chosen, so that the probability that the same
number is chosen twice in immediate succession is very low. What would be the prob-
lem of using the same TIDs twice in immediate succession?
2.15
In order to be able retransmit lost packets, TFTP must keep a copy of the data it
sends. How many packets of data must TFTP keep at a time to implement this
retransmission mechanism?
2.16
TFTP, like most protocols, will never send an error packet in response to an error
packet it receives. Why?
2.17
We have seen that in order to deal with lost packets, TFTP implements a timeout-and-
retransmit scheme, by setting a retransmission timer when it transmits a packet to the
remote host. Most TFTP implementations set this timer to a fixed value of about
5 seconds. Discuss the advantages and the disadvantages of using a fixed value for the
retransmission timer.
2.18
TFTP’s timeout-and-retransmission scheme implies that all data packets will eventu-
ally be received by the destination host. Will these data also be received uncorrupted?
Why or why not?
2.19
This chapter mentions the use of Frame Relay as a specific protocol or system used to
connect to a wide area network. Each organization will have a certain collection of
services available (like Frame Relay) but this is dependent upon provider provision-
ing, cost and customer premises equipment. What are some of the services available
to you in your area?
Note:
The following problem concern materials in Appendix H.
APPENDIX 2A THE TRIVIAL FILE TRANSFER PROTOCOL
57
2.20
Based on the principles enunciated in Table H.1,
a. Design an architecture with eight layers and make a case for it.
b. Design one with six layers and make a case for that.
APPENDIX 2A THE TRIVIAL FILE TRANSFER PROTOCOL
This appendix provides an overview of the Internet standard Trivial File Transfer Protocol
(TFTP), defined in RFC 1350. Our purpose is to give the reader some flavor for the elements
of a protocol. TFTP is simple enough to provide a concise example, but includes most of the
significant elements found in other, more complex, protocols.
Introduction to TFTP
TFTP is far simpler than the Internet standard FTP (RFC 959). There are no provisions for
access control or user identification, so TFTP is only suitable for public access file directories.
Because of its simplicity, TFTP is easily and compactly implemented. For example, some disk-
less devices use TFTP to download their firmware at boot time.
TFTP runs on top of UDP. The TFTP entity that initiates the transfer does so by
sending a read or write request in a UDP segment with a destination port of 69 to the tar-
get system.This port is recognized by the target UDP module as the identifier of the TFTP
module. For the duration of the transfer, each side uses a transfer identifier (TID) as its
port number.
TFTP Packets
TFTP entities exchange commands, responses, and file data in the form of packets, each of which
is carried in the body of a UDP segment. TFTP supports five types of packets (Figure 2.13); the
first two bytes contains an opcode that identifies the packet type:
2 bytes
n bytes
1 byte
n bytes
1 byte
RRQ and
Opcode
Filename
0
Mode
0
WRQ packets
2 bytes
2 bytes
0 to 512 bytes
Block
Data packet
Opcode
Data
number
2 bytes
2 bytes
Block
ACK packet
Opcode
number
2 bytes
2 bytes
n bytes
1 byte
Error
Error packet
Opcode
ErrMsg
0
code
Figure 2.13
TFTP Packet Formats
58
CHAPTER 2 / PROTOCOL ARCHITECTURE, TCP/IP, AND INTERNET-BASED
Table 2.4
TFTP Error Codes
Value
Meaning
0
Not defined, see error message (if any)
1
File not found
2
Access violation
3
Disk full or allocation exceeded
4
Illegal TFTP operation
5
Unknown transfer ID
6
File already exists
7
No such user
•
RRQ: The read request packet requests permission to transfer a file from the other sys-
tem. The packet includes a file name, which is a sequence of ASCII6 bytes terminated by
a zero byte. The zero byte is the means by which the receiving TFTP entity knows
when the file name is terminated. The packet also includes a mode field, which
indicates whether the data file is to be interpreted as a string of ASCII bytes (netascii
mode) or as raw 8-bit bytes (octet mode) of data. In netascii mode, the file is trans-
ferred as lines of characters, each terminated by a carriage return, line feed. Each sys-
tem must translate between its own format for character files and the TFTP format.
•
WRQ: The write request packet requests permission to transfer a file to the other
system.
•
Data: The block numbers on data packets begin with one and increase by one for each
new block of data. This convention enables the program to use a single number to dis-
criminate between new packets and duplicates. The data field is from zero to 512 bytes
long. If it is 512 bytes long, the block is not the last block of data; if it is from zero to
511 bytes long, it signals the end of the transfer.
•
ACK: This packet is used to acknowledge receipt of a data packet or a WRQ packet.
An ACK of a data packet contains the block number of the data packet being acknowl-
edged. An ACK of a WRQ contains a block number of zero.
•
Error: An error packet can be the acknowledgment of any other type of packet. The
error code is an integer indicating the nature of the error (Table 2.4). The error message
is intended for human consumption and should be in ASCII. Like all other strings, it is
terminated with a zero byte.
All packets other than duplicate ACKs (explained subsequently) and those used for ter-
mination are to be acknowledged.Any packet can be acknowledged by an error packet. If there
are no errors, then the following conventions apply. A WRQ or a data packet is acknowledged
by an ACK packet. When a RRQ is sent, the other side responds (in the absence of error) by
beginning to transfer the file; thus, the first data block serves as an acknowledgment of the
RRQ packet. Unless a file transfer is complete, each ACK packet from one side is followed by
a data packet from the other, so that the data packet functions as an acknowledgment. An error
packet can be acknowledged by any other kind of packet, depending on the circumstance.
6ASCII is the American Standard Code for Information Interchange, a standard of the American
National Standards Institute. It designates a unique 7-bit pattern for each letter, with an eighth bit
used for parity. ASCII is equivalent to the International Reference Alphabet (IRA), defined in ITU-T
Recommendation T.50. See Appendix E for a discussion.
APPENDIX 2A THE TRIVIAL FILE TRANSFER PROTOCOL
59
Version
IHL
DS
ECN
Total length
4
5
Identification
Flags
Fragment offset
IP
header
Time to Live
Protocol
6
Header checksum
Source address
Destination address
UDP
Source port
Destination port
69
header
Segment length
Checksum
TFTP
header
Opcode
Block number
TFTP Data
Figure 2.14
A TFTP Packet in Context
Figure 2.14 shows a TFTP data packet in context. When such a packet is handed down
to UDP, UDP adds a header to form a UDP segment. This is then passed to IP, which adds an
IP header to form an IP datagram.
Overview of a Transfer
The example illustrated in Figure 2.15 is of a simple file transfer operation from A to B. No
errors occur and the details of the option specification are not explored.
The operation begins when the TFTP module in system A sends a write request
(WRQ) to the TFTP module in system B. The WRQ packet is carried as the body
of a UDP segment. The write request includes the name of the file (in this case, XXX)
and a mode of octet, or raw data. In the UDP header, the destination port number is 69,
which alerts the receiving UDP entity that this message is intended for the TFTP applica-
tion. The source port number is a TID selected by A, in this case 1511. System B is
prepared to accept the file and so responds with an ACK with a block number of 0. In the
UDP header, the destination port is 1511, which enables the UDP entity at A to route
the incoming packet to the TFTP module, which can match this TID with the
TID in the WRQ. The source port is a TID selected by B for this file transfer, in this
case 1660.
Following this initial exchange, the file transfer proceeds. The transfer consists of one or
more data packets from A, each of which is acknowledged by B. The final data packet con-
tains less than 512 bytes of data, which signals the end of the transfer.
60
CHAPTER 2 / PROTOCOL ARCHITECTURE, TCP/IP, AND INTERNET-BASED
A
B
I
I
I
Figure 2.15
Example TFTP Operation
Errors and Delays
If TFTP operates over a network or internet (as opposed to a direct data link), it is possible
for packets to be lost. Because TFTP operates over UDP, which does not provide a reliable
delivery service, there needs to be some mechanism in TFTP to deal with lost packets. TFTP
uses the common technique of a timeout mechanism. Suppose that A sends a packet to B that
requires an acknowledgment (i.e., any packet other than duplicate ACKs and those used for
termination). When A has transmitted the packet, it starts a timer. If the timer expires before
the acknowledgment is received from B, A retransmits the same packet. If in fact the original
packet was lost, then the retransmission will be the first copy of this packet received by B. If
the original packet was not lost but the acknowledgment from B was lost, then B will receive
two copies of the same packet from A and simply acknowledges both copies. Because of the
use of block numbers, this causes no confusion. The only exception to this rule is for duplicate
ACK packets. The second ACK is ignored.
APPENDIX 2A THE TRIVIAL FILE TRANSFER PROTOCOL
61
Syntax, Semantics, and Timing
In Section 2.1, it was mentioned that the key features of a protocol can be classified as syntax,
semantics, and timing. These categories are easily seen in TFTP. The formats of the various
TFTP packets form the syntax of the protocol. The semantics of the protocol are shown in the
definitions of each of the packet types and the error codes. Finally, the sequence in which
packets are exchanged, the use of block numbers, and the use of timers are all aspects of the
timing of TFTP.
PART TWO
Data Communications
art Two deals with the transfer of data between two devices that are directly
connected; that is, the two devices are linked by a single transmission path
P
rather than a network. Even this simple context introduces numerous tech-
nical and design issues. First, we need to understand something about the process
of transmitting signals across a communications link. Both analog and digital
transmission techniques are used. In both cases, the signal can be described as
consisting of a spectrum of components across a range of electromagnetic fre-
quencies. The transmission properties of the signal depend on which frequencies
are involved. Also, the types of impairments, such as attenuation, that a signal suf-
fers are dependent on frequency. A separate concern is the transmission medium
used to transmit signals, which is a factor in determining what performance can be
achieved, in terms of data rate and distance. Closely tied to considerations of the
signal and the medium is the way in which data are encoded on the signal. Again,
the encoding technique is a factor in transmission performance.
Beyond the fundamental concepts of signal, medium, and encoding, Part Two
deals with two other important aspects of data communications: reliability and
efficiency. In any communications scheme, there will be a certain rate of errors
suffered during transmission. A data link control protocol provides mechanisms
for detecting and recovering from such errors, so that a potentially unreliable
transmission path is turned into a reliable data communications link. Finally,
if the capacity of the link is greater than the requirements for a single
transmission, then a variety of multiplexing techniques can be used to provide
for efficient use of the medium.
ROAD MAP FOR PART TWO
Chapter 3 Data Transmission
The principles of data transmission underlie all of the concepts and
techniques presented in this book. To understand the need for encoding, mul-
tiplexing, switching, error control, and so on, the reader should understand
62
the behavior of data signals propagated through a transmission medium.
Chapter 3 discusses the distinction between digital and analog data and
digital and analog transmission. Concepts of attenuation and noise are also
examined.
Chapter 4 Transmission Media
Transmission media can be classified as either guided or wireless. The
most commonly used guided transmission media are twisted pair, coaxial
cable, and optical fiber. Wireless techniques include terrestrial and
satellite microwave, broadcast radio, and infrared. Chapter 4 covers all of
these topics.
Chapter 5 Signal Encoding Techniques
Data come in both analog (continuous) and digital (discrete) form. For
transmission, input data must be encoded as an electrical signal that is
tailored to the characteristics of the transmission medium. Both analog and
digital data can be represented by either analog or digital signals; each of
the four cases is discussed in Chapter 5.
Chapter 6 Digital Data Communication Techniques
In Chapter 6, the emphasis shifts from data transmission to data commu-
nications. For two devices linked by a transmission medium to exchange
digital data, a high degree of cooperation is required. Typically, data are
transmitted one bit at a time over the medium. The timing (rate, duration,
spacing) of these bits must be the same for transmitter and receiver. Two
common communication techniques—asynchronous and synchronous—
are explored. Following this, the chapter examines the topics of transmis-
sion errors and error detection and correction techniques.
Chapter 7 Data Link Control Protocols
True cooperative exchange of digital data between two devices requires
some form of data link control. Chapter 7 examines the fundamental tech-
niques common to all data link control protocols, including flow control
and error control, and then examines the most commonly used protocol,
HDLC.
Chapter 8 Multiplexing
Transmission facilities are, by and large, expensive. It is often the case that
two communication stations will not utilize the full capacity of a data link.
For efficiency, it should be possible to share that capacity. The generic
term for such sharing is multiplexing.
63
Chapter 8 concentrates on the three most common types of multiplexing
techniques. The first, frequency division multiplexing (FDM), is the most
widespread and is familiar to anyone who has ever used a radio or televi-
sion set. The second is a particular case of time division multiplexing
(TDM), often known as synchronous TDM. This is commonly used for
multiplexing digitized voice streams. The third type is another form of
TDM that is more complex but potentially more efficient than synchro-
nous TDM; it is referred to as statistical or asynchronous TDM.
Chapter 9 Spread Spectrum
An increasingly popular form of wireless communications is known as
spread spectrum. Two general approaches are used: frequency hopping
and direct sequence spread spectrum. Chapter 9 provides an overview of
both techniques. The chapter also looks at the concept of code division
multiple access (CDMA), which is an application of spread spectrum to
provide multiple access.
64
CHAPTER3
DATA TRANSMISSION
3.1
Concepts and Terminology
3.2
Analog and Digital Data Transmission
3.3
Transmission Impairments
3.4
Channel Capacity
3.5
Recommended Reading and Web Site
3.6
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
3.6
Appendix 3A Decibels and Signal Strength
65
66
CHAPTER 3 / DATA TRANSMISSION
Toto, I’ve got a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.
Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz
KEY POINTS
•
All of the forms of information that are discussed in this book (voice,
data, image, video) can be represented by electromagnetic signals.
Depending on the transmission medium and the communications
environment, either analog or digital signals can be used to convey
information.
•
Any electromagnetic signal, analog or digital, is made up of a number
of constituent frequencies. A key parameter that characterizes the sig-
nal is bandwidth, which is the width of the range of frequencies that
comprises the signal. In general, the greater the bandwidth of the sig-
nal, the greater its information-carrying capacity.
•
A major problem in designing a communications facility is transmis-
sion impairment. The most significant impairments are attenuation,
attenuation distortion, delay distortion, and the various types of noise.
The various forms of noise include thermal noise, intermodulation
noise, crosstalk, and impulse noise. For analog signals, transmission
impairments introduce random effects that degrade the quality of the
received information and may affect intelligibility. For digital signals,
transmission impairments may cause bit errors at the receiver.
•
The designer of a communications facility must deal with four factors:
the bandwidth of the signal, the data rate that is used for digital
information, the amount of noise and other impairments, and the level
of error rate that is acceptable. The bandwidth is limited by the
transmission medium and the desire to avoid interference with other
nearby signals. Because bandwidth is a scarce resource, we would like
to maximize the data rate that is achieved in a given bandwidth. The
data rate is limited by the bandwidth, the presence of impairments,
and the error rate that is acceptable.
The successful transmission of data depends principally on two factors: the qual-
ity of the signal being transmitted and the characteristics of the transmission
medium. The objective of this chapter and the next is to provide the reader with
an intuitive feeling for the nature of these two factors.
The first section presents some concepts and terms from the field of electrical
engineering. This should provide sufficient background to deal with the remainder
of the chapter. Section 3.2 clarifies the use of the terms analog and digital. Either
analog or digital data may be transmitted using either analog or digital signals. Fur-
thermore, it is common for intermediate processing to be performed between
source and destination, and this processing has either an analog or digital character.
3.1 / CONCEPTS AND TERMINOLOGY
67
Section 3.3 looks at the various impairments that may introduce errors into
the data during transmission. The chief impairments are attenuation, attenuation
distortion, delay distortion, and the various forms of noise. Finally, we look at the
important concept of channel capacity.
3.1
CONCEPTS AND TERMINOLOGY
In this section we introduce some concepts and terms that will be referred to
throughout the rest of the chapter and, indeed, throughout Part Two.
Transmission Terminology
Data transmission occurs between transmitter and receiver over some transmission
medium. Transmission media may be classified as guided or unguided. In both cases,
communication is in the form of electromagnetic waves. With guided media, the
waves are guided along a physical path; examples of guided media are twisted pair,
coaxial cable, and optical fiber. Unguided media, also called wireless, provide a
means for transmitting electromagnetic waves but do not guide them; examples are
propagation through air, vacuum, and seawater.
The term direct link is used to refer to the transmission path between two
devices in which signals propagate directly from transmitter to receiver with no
intermediate devices, other than amplifiers or repeaters used to increase signal
strength. Note that this term can apply to both guided and unguided media.
A guided transmission medium is point to point if it provides a direct link
between two devices and those are the only two devices sharing the medium. In a
multipoint guided configuration, more than two devices share the same medium.
A transmission may be simplex, half duplex, or full duplex. In simplex trans-
mission, signals are transmitted in only one direction; one station is transmitter and
the other is receiver. In half-duplex operation, both stations may transmit, but only
one at a time. In full-duplex operation, both stations may transmit simultaneously. In
the latter case, the medium is carrying signals in both directions at the same time.
How this can be is explained in due course. We should note that the definitions just
given are the ones in common use in the United States (ANSI definitions). Else-
where (ITU-T definitions), the term simplex is used to correspond to half duplex as
defined previously, and duplex is used to correspond to full duplex as just defined.
Frequency, Spectrum, and Bandwidth
In this book, we are concerned with electromagnetic signals used as a means to
transmit data. At point 3 in Figure 1.3, a signal is generated by the transmitter and
transmitted over a medium. The signal is a function of time, but it can also be
expressed as a function of frequency; that is, the signal consists of components of dif-
ferent frequencies. It turns out that the frequency domain view of a signal is more
important to an understanding of data transmission than a time domain view. Both
views are introduced here.
Time Domain Concepts Viewed as a function of time, an electromagnetic signal
can be either analog or digital. An analog signal is one in which the signal intensity
68
CHAPTER 3 / DATA TRANSMISSION
Amplitude
(volts)
Time
(a) Analog
Amplitude
(volts)
Time
(b) Digital
Figure 3.1
Analog and Digital Waveforms
varies in a smooth fashion over time. In other words, there are no breaks or disconti-
nuities in the signal.1 A digital signal is one in which the signal intensity maintains a
constant level for some period of time and then abruptly changes to another constant
level.2 Figure 3.1 shows an example of each kind of signal.The continuous signal might
represent speech, and the discrete signal might represent binary 1s and 0s.
The simplest sort of signal is a periodic signal, in which the same signal pattern
repeats over time. Figure 3.2 shows an example of a periodic continuous signal (sine
wave) and a periodic discrete signal (square wave). Mathematically, a signal s(t) is
defined to be periodic if and only if
s1t + T2 = s1t2
-q 6 t 6 +q
where the constant T is the period of the signal (T is the smallest value that satisfies
the equation). Otherwise, a signal is aperiodic.
The sine wave is the fundamental periodic signal. A general sine wave can be
represented by three parameters: peak amplitude (A), frequency ( f ), and phase
1f2.
The peak amplitude is the maximum value or strength of the signal over time;
typically, this value is measured in volts. The frequency is the rate [in cycles per
1A mathematical definition: a signal s(t) is continuous if
for all a.
lim s1t2 = s1a2
t:a
2This is an idealized definition. In fact, the transition from one voltage level to another will not be instan-
taneous, but there will be a small transition period. Nevertheless, an actual digital signal approximates
closely the ideal model of constant voltage levels with instantaneous transitions.
3.1 / CONCEPTS AND TERMINOLOGY
69
A
0
Time
A
Period T
1/f
(a) Sine wave
A
0
Time
A
Period T
1/f
(b) Square wave
Figure 3.2
Examples of Periodic Signals
second, or Hertz (Hz)] at which the signal repeats. An equivalent parameter is the
period (T) of a signal, which is the amount of time it takes for one repetition; there-
fore,
Phase is a measure of the relative position in time within a single
T = 1/f.
period of a signal, as is illustrated subsequently. More formally, for a periodic signal
f(t), phase is the fractional part t/T of the period T through which t has advanced rel-
ative to an arbitrary origin. The origin is usually taken as the last previous passage
through zero from the negative to the positive direction.
The general sine wave can be written
s1t2 = A sin12pft + f2
A function with the form of the preceding equation is known as a sinusoid.
Figure 3.3 shows the effect of varying each of the three parameters. In part (a) of the
figure, the frequency is 1 Hz; thus the period is
T = 1
second. Part (b) has the same
frequency and phase but a peak amplitude of 0.5. In part (c) we have
f = 2,
which
is equivalent to
T = 0.5.
Finally, part (d) shows the effect of a phase shift of
p/4
radians, which is 45 degrees 12p radians = 360° = 1 period2.
70
CHAPTER 3 / DATA TRANSMISSION
s(t)
s(t)
1.0
1.0
0.5
0.5
0.0
0.0
0.5
0.5
1.0
t
1.0
t
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5 s
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5 s
(a) A
1, f
1, F
0
(b) A
0.5, f
1, F
0
s(t)
s(t)
1.0
1.0
0.5
0.5
0.0
0.0
0.5
0.5
1.0
t
1.0
t
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5 s
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5 s
(c) A
1, f
2, F
0
(d) A
1, f
1, F P/4
Figure 3.3
s1t2
A sin12pft + f2
In Figure 3.3, the horizontal axis is time; the graphs display the value of a sig-
nal at a given point in space as a function of time. These same graphs, with a change
of scale, can apply with horizontal axes in space. In this case, the graphs display the
value of a signal at a given point in time as a function of distance. For example, for a
sinusoidal transmission (e.g., an electromagnetic radio wave some distance from a
radio antenna, or sound some distance from a loudspeaker), at a particular instant
of time, the intensity of the signal varies in a sinusoidal way as a function of distance
from the source.
There is a simple relationship between the two sine waves, one in time and one
in space. The wavelength
of a signal is the distance occupied by a single cycle, or,
1l2
put another way, the distance between two points of corresponding phase of two
consecutive cycles. Assume that the signal is traveling with a velocity v. Then the
wavelength is related to the period as follows:
Equivalently,
Of
l = vT.
lf = v.
particular relevance to this discussion is the case where
the speed of light in
v = c,
free space, which is approximately
3 * 108 m/s.
Frequency Domain Concepts In practice, an electromagnetic signal will be
made up of many frequencies. For example, the signal
3.1 / CONCEPTS AND TERMINOLOGY
71
s1t2 = [4/p2 * 1sin12pft2 + 11/32sin12p13f2t2]
is shown in Figure 3.4c. The components of this signal are just sine waves of frequen-
cies f and 3f; parts (a) and (b) of the figure show these individual components.3 There
are two interesting points that can be made about this figure:
1.0
0.5
0.0
0.5
1.0
0.0T
0.5T
1.0T
1.5T
2.0T
(a) sin(2pft)
1.0
0.5
0.0
0.5
1.0
0.0T
0.5T
1.0T
1.5T
2.0T
(b) (1/3) sin(2p(3f) t)
1.0
0.5
0.0
0.5
1.0
0.0T
0.5T
1.0T
1.5T
2.0T
(c) (4/p) [sin(2pft) + (1/3)sin(2p(3f) t)]
Figure 3.4
Addition of Frequency Components 1T
1/f2
3The scaling factor of 4/p is used to produce a wave whose peak amplitude is close to 1.
72
CHAPTER 3 / DATA TRANSMISSION
• The second frequency is an integer multiple of the first frequency. When all of
the frequency components of a signal are integer multiples of one frequency,
the latter frequency is referred to as the fundamental frequency.
• The period of the total signal is equal to the period of the fundamental
frequency. The period of the component sin
is
and the period
12pft2
T = 1/f,
of s(t) is also T, as can be seen from Figure 3.4c.
It can be shown, using a discipline known as Fourier analysis, that any signal is
made up of components at various frequencies, in which each component is a sinu-
soid. By adding together enough sinusoidal signals, each with the appropriate ampli-
tude, frequency, and phase, any electromagnetic signal can be constructed. Put
another way, any electromagnetic signal can be shown to consist of a collection of
periodic analog signals (sine waves) at different amplitudes, frequencies, and phases.
The importance of being able to look at a signal from the frequency perspective
(frequency domain) rather than a time perspective (time domain) should become
clear as the discussion proceeds. For the interested reader, the subject of Fourier
analysis is introduced in Appendix A.
So we can say that for each signal, there is a time domain function s(t) that speci-
fies the amplitude of the signal at each instant in time. Similarly, there is a frequency
domain function S(f) that specifies the peak amplitude of the constituent frequencies of
the signal. Figure 3.5a shows the frequency domain function for the signal of Figure 3.4c.
Note that, in this case, S(f) is discrete. Figure 3.5b shows the frequency domain function
for a single square pulse that has the value 1 between
and X/2, and is 0 elsewhere.4
- X/2
Note that in this case S( f ) is continuous and that it has nonzero values indefinitely,
although the magnitude of the frequency components rapidly shrinks for larger f.
These characteristics are common for real signals.
The spectrum of a signal is the range of frequencies that it contains. For the
signal of Figure 3.4c, the spectrum extends from f to 3f. The absolute bandwidth
of a signal is the width of the spectrum. In the case of Figure 3.4c, the bandwidth
is
2f. Many signals, such as that of Figure 3.5b, have an infinite bandwidth.
However, most of the energy in the signal is contained in a relatively narrow
band of frequencies. This band is referred to as the effective bandwidth, or just
bandwidth.
One final term to define is dc component. If a signal includes a component of
zero frequency, that component is a direct current (dc) or constant component. For
example, Figure 3.6 shows the result of adding a dc component to the signal of
Figure 3.4c. With no dc component, a signal has an average amplitude of zero, as
seen in the time domain. With a dc component, it has a frequency term at
and
f = 0
a nonzero average amplitude.
Relationship between Data Rate and Bandwidth We have said that effec-
tive bandwidth is the band within which most of the signal energy is concentrated. The
meaning of the term most in this context is somewhat arbitrary. The important issue
4In fact, the function S( f ) for this case is symmetric around
and so has values for negative fre-
f = 0
quencies. The presence of negative frequencies is a mathematical artifact whose explanation is beyond
the scope of this book.
3.1 / CONCEPTS AND TERMINOLOGY
73
S(f)
1.4
1.2
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
f
0
1f
2f
3f
4f
(a) s(t)
(4/P)[sin(2Pft)
(1/3)sin(2P(3f)t)]
S(f)
1.2X
1.0X
0.8X
0.6X
0.4X
0.2X
0.0X
0.2X
0.4X
f
0
1/X
2/X
3/X
4/X
5/X
(b) s(t)
1
X/2
t
X/2
Figure 3.5
Frequency Domain Representations
here is that, although a given waveform may contain frequencies over a very broad
range, as a practical matter any transmission system (transmitter plus medium plus
receiver) will be able to accommodate only a limited band of frequencies. This, in turn,
limits the data rate that can be carried on the transmission medium.
To try to explain these relationships, consider the square wave of Figure 3.2b.
Suppose that we let a positive pulse represent binary 0 and a negative pulse repre-
sent binary 1. Then the waveform represents the binary stream 0101
The dura-
tion of each pulse is 1/(2f ); thus the data rate is 2f bits per second (bps). What are the
frequency components of this signal? To answer this question, consider again
74
CHAPTER 3 / DATA TRANSMISSION
s(t)
2.0
1.5
1.0
t
0.5
0.0
0.0T
0.5T
1.0T
1.5T
2.0T
(a) s(t)
1
(4/P) [sin(2Pft)
(1/3)sin(2P(3f)t)]
S(f)
1.4
1.2
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
f
0
1
2
3
4
(b) S(f)
Figure 3.6
Signal with dc Component
Figure 3.4. By adding together sine waves at frequencies f and 3f, we get a waveform
that begins to resemble the original square wave. Let us continue this process by
adding a sine wave of frequency 5f, as shown in Figure 3.7a, and then adding a sine
wave of frequency 7f, as shown in Figure 3.7b. As we add additional odd multiples of
f, suitably scaled, the resulting waveform approaches that of a square wave more
and more closely.
Indeed, it can be shown that the frequency components of the square wave
with amplitudes A and
can be expressed as follows:
-A
q
4
sin12pkft2
s1t2 = A *
a
p *
k
k odd,k = 1
Thus, this waveform has an infinite number of frequency components and hence an
infinite bandwidth. However, the peak amplitude of the kth frequency component,
kf, is only 1/k, so most of the energy in this waveform is in the first few frequency
components. What happens if we limit the bandwidth to just the first three fre-
quency components? We have already seen the answer, in Figure 3.7a. As we can
3.1 / CONCEPTS AND TERMINOLOGY
75
1.0
0.5
0.0
0.5
1.0
0.0
0.5T
1.0T
1.5T
2.0T
(a) (4/p) [sin(2pft)
(1/3)sin(2p(3f)t)
(1/5)sin(2p(5f)t)]
1.0
0.5
0.0
0.5
1.0
0.0
0.5T
1.0T
1.5T
2.0T
(b) (4/p) [sin(2pft)
(1/3)sin(2p(3f)t)
(1/5)sin(2p(5f)t)
(1/7)sin(2p(7f)t)]
1.0
0.5
0.0
0.5
1.0
0.0
0.5T
1.0T
1.5T
2.0T
(c) (4/p)
(1/k)sin(2p(kf)t), for k odd
Figure 3.7
Frequency Components of Square Wave 1T = 1/f )
see, the shape of the resulting waveform is reasonably close to that of the original
square wave.
We can use Figures 3.4 and 3.7 to illustrate the relationship between data rate
and bandwidth. Suppose that we are using a digital transmission system that is capa-
ble of transmitting signals with a bandwidth of 4 MHz. Let us attempt to transmit a
sequence of alternating 1s and 0s as the square wave of Figure 3.7c. What data rate
can be achieved? We look at three cases.
Case I. Let us approximate our square wave with the waveform of Figure 3.7a.
Although this waveform is a “distorted” square wave, it is sufficiently close to the
square wave that a receiver should be able to discriminate between a binary 0
76
CHAPTER 3 / DATA TRANSMISSION
and a binary 1. If we let
then the bandwidth of
f = 106 cycles/second = 1 MHz,
the signal
4
s1t2 =
p *
1
c sin112p * 1062t2 +
sin112p * 5 * 1062t2 d
3sin112p*3*1062t2+5
is
Note that for
the period of the
15 * 1062 - 106 = 4 MHz.
f = 1 MHz,
fundamental frequency is
If we treat this waveform as
T = 1/106 = 10-6 = 1 ms.
a bit string of
1s and 0s, one bit occurs every
for a data rate of
0.5 ms,
2 * 106 = 2 Mbps. Thus, for a bandwidth of 4 MHz, a data rate of 2 Mbps is
achieved.
Case II. Now suppose that we have a bandwidth of 8 MHz. Let us look again at
Figure 3.7a, but now with
Using the same line of reasoning as
f = 2 MHz.
before, the bandwidth of the signal is
15 * 2 * 1062 - 12 * 1062 = 8 MHz.
But in this case
As a result, one bit occurs every
for a
T = 1/f = 0.5 ms.
0.25 ms
data rate of 4 Mbps. Thus, other things being equal, by doubling the bandwidth,
we double the potential data rate.
Case III. Now suppose that the waveform of Figure 3.4c is considered adequate
for approximating a square wave. That is, the difference between a positive and
negative pulse in Figure 3.4c is sufficiently distinct that the waveform can be suc-
cessfully used to represent a sequence of 1s and 0s. Assume as in Case II that
and
so that one bit occurs every
for a
f = 2 MHz
T = 1/f = 0.5 ms,
0.25 ms
data rate of 4 Mbps. Using the waveform of Figure 3.4c, the bandwidth of the sig-
nal is
Thus, a given bandwidth can sup-
13 * 2 * 1062 - 12 * 1062 = 4 MHz.
port various data rates depending on the ability of the receiver to discern the
difference between 0 and 1 in the presence of noise and other impairments.
To summarize,
•
Case I:
Bandwidth = 4 MHz; data rate = 2 Mbps
•
Case II:
Bandwidth = 8 MHz; data rate = 4 Mbps
•
Case III:
Bandwidth = 4 MHz; data rate = 4 Mbps
We can draw the following conclusions from the preceding discussion. In general,
any digital waveform will have infinite bandwidth. If we attempt to transmit this wave-
form as a signal over any medium, the transmission system will limit the bandwidth that
can be transmitted. Furthermore, for any given medium, the greater the bandwidth
transmitted, the greater the cost.Thus, on the one hand, economic and practical reasons
dictate that digital information be approximated by a signal of limited bandwidth. On
the other hand, limiting the bandwidth creates distortions, which makes the task of
interpreting the received signal more difficult. The more limited the bandwidth, the
greater the distortion, and the greater the potential for error by the receiver.
One more illustration should serve to reinforce these concepts. Figure 3.8
shows a digital bit stream with a data rate of 2000 bits per second. With a bandwidth
of 2500 Hz, or even 1700 Hz, the representation is quite good. Furthermore, we can
generalize these results. If the data rate of the digital signal is W bps, then a very
3.1 / CONCEPTS AND TERMINOLOGY
77
Bits:
1
0
1
1
1
1
0
1
1
Pulses before transmission:
Bit rate. 2000 bits per second
Pulses after transmission:
Bandwidth 500 Hz
Bandwidth 900 Hz
Bandwidth 1300 Hz
Bandwidth 1700 Hz
Bandwidth 2500 Hz
Bandwidth 4000 Hz
Figure 3.8
Effect of Bandwidth on a Digital Signal
good representation can be achieved with a bandwidth of 2W Hz. However, unless
noise is very severe, the bit pattern can be recovered with less bandwidth than this
(see the discussion of channel capacity in Section 3.4).
Thus, there is a direct relationship between data rate and bandwidth: The
higher the data rate of a signal, the greater is its required effective bandwidth.
Looked at the other way, the greater the bandwidth of a transmission system, the
higher is the data rate that can be transmitted over that system.
Another observation worth making is this: If we think of the bandwidth of a
signal as being centered about some frequency, referred to as the center frequency,
then the higher the center frequency, the higher the potential bandwidth and there-
fore the higher the potential data rate. For example, if a signal is centered at 2 MHz,
its maximum potential bandwidth is 4 MHz.
78
CHAPTER 3 / DATA TRANSMISSION
We return to a discussion of the relationship between bandwidth and data rate
in Section 3.4, after a consideration of transmission impairments.
3.2
ANALOG AND DIGITAL DATA TRANSMISSION
The terms analog and digital correspond, roughly, to continuous and discrete,
respectively. These two terms are used frequently in data communications in at least
three contexts: data, signaling, and transmission.
Briefly, we define data as entities that convey meaning, or information. Signals
are electric or electromagnetic representations of data. Signaling is the physical
propagation of the signal along a suitable medium. Transmission is the communica-
tion of data by the propagation and processing of signals. In what follows, we try to
make these abstract concepts clear by discussing the terms analog and digital as
applied to data, signals, and transmission.
Analog and Digital Data
The concepts of analog and digital data are simple enough. Analog data take on
continuous values in some interval. For example, voice and video are continuously
varying patterns of intensity. Most data collected by sensors, such as temperature
and pressure, are continuous valued. Digital data take on discrete values; examples
are text and integers.
The most familiar example of analog data is audio, which, in the form of
acoustic sound waves, can be perceived directly by human beings. Figure 3.9 shows
the acoustic spectrum for human speech and for music.5 Frequency components of
typical speech may be found between approximately 100 Hz and 7 kHz. Although
much of the energy in speech is concentrated at the lower frequencies, tests have
shown that frequencies below 600 or 700 Hz add very little to the intelligibility of
speech to the human ear. Typical speech has a dynamic range of about 25 dB;6 that
is, the power produced by the loudest shout may be as much as 300 times greater
than the least whisper. Figure 3.9 also shows the acoustic spectrum and dynamic
range for music.
Another common example of analog data is video. Here it is easier to charac-
terize the data in terms of the TV screen (destination) rather than the original
scene (source) recorded by the TV camera. To produce a picture on the screen, an
electron beam scans across the surface of the screen from left to right and top to
bottom. For black-and-white television, the amount of illumination produced (on a
scale from black to white) at any point is proportional to the intensity of the beam
as it passes that point. Thus at any instant in time the beam takes on an analog value
of intensity to produce the desired brightness at that point on the screen. Further, as
5Note the use of a log scale for the x-axis. Because the y-axis is in units of decibels, it is effectively a log
scale also. A basic review of log scales is in the math refresher document at the Computer Science
Student Resource Site at WilliamStallings.com/StudentSupport.html.
6The concept of decibels is explained in Appendix 3A.
3.2 / ANALOG AND DIGITAL DATA TRANSMISSION
79
Upper limit
of FM radio
Upper limit
of AM radio
Telephone channel
0
Music
20
Speech
Approximate
dynamic range
Approximate
30 dB
of music
dynamic range
40
of voice
Noise
60
10 Hz
100 Hz
1 kHz
10 kHz
100 kHz
Frequency
Figure 3.9
Acoustic Spectrum of Speech and Music [CARN99a]
the beam scans, the analog value changes. Thus the video image can be thought of as
a time-varying analog signal.
Figure 3.10 depicts the scanning process. At the end of each scan line, the beam
is swept rapidly back to the left (horizontal retrace). When the beam reaches the
bottom, it is swept rapidly back to the top (vertical retrace). The beam is turned off
(blanked out) during the retrace intervals.
To achieve adequate resolution, the beam produces a total of 483 horizontal
lines at a rate of 30 complete scans of the screen per second. Tests have shown
that this rate will produce a sensation of flicker rather than smooth motion. To
provide a flicker-free image without increasing the bandwidth requirement, a
technique known as interlacing is used. As Figure 3.10 shows, the odd numbered
scan lines and the even numbered scan lines are scanned separately, with odd and
even fields alternating on successive scans. The odd field is the scan from A to B
and the even field is the scan from C to D. The beam reaches the middle of the
screen’s lowest line after 241.5 lines. At this point, the beam is quickly reposi-
tioned at the top of the screen and recommences in the middle of the screen’s
topmost visible line to produce an additional 241.5 lines interlaced with the orig-
inal set. Thus the screen is refreshed 60 times per second rather than 30, and
flicker is avoided.
A familiar example of digital data is text or character strings. While textual
data are most convenient for human beings, they cannot, in character form, be easily
stored or transmitted by data processing and communications systems. Such systems
are designed for binary data. Thus a number of codes have been devised by which
characters are represented by a sequence of bits. Perhaps the earliest common
example of this is the Morse code. Today, the most commonly used text code is the
80
CHAPTER 3 / DATA TRANSMISSION
Screen
Scan line
Horizontal
C
A
retrace
C
A
Vertical
retrace
D
B
D
B
(a) Even field only
(b) Odd field only
C
A
D
B
(c) Odd and even fields
Figure 3.10
Video Interlaced Scanning
International Reference Alphabet (IRA).7
Each character in this code is repre-
sented by a unique 7-bit pattern; thus 128 different characters can be represented.
This is a larger number than is necessary, and some of the patterns represent invisible
control characters. IRA-encoded characters are almost always stored and transmitted
using 8 bits per character. The eighth bit is a parity bit used for error detection. This
bit is set such that the total number of binary 1s in each octet is always odd (odd
parity) or always even (even parity). Thus a transmission error that changes a single
bit, or any odd number of bits, can be detected.
Analog and Digital Signals
In a communications system, data are propagated from one point to another by
means of electromagnetic signals. An analog signal is a continuously varying elec-
tromagnetic wave that may be propagated over a variety of media, depending on
7IRA is defined in ITU-T Recommendation T.50 and was formerly known as International Alphabet
Number 5 (IA5). The U.S. national version of IRA is referred to as the American Standard Code for
Information Interchange (ASCII). Appendix E provides a description and table of the IRA code.
3.2 / ANALOG AND DIGITAL DATA TRANSMISSION
81
Voltage at
transmitting end
Voltage at
receiving end
Figure 3.11
Attenuation of Digital Signals
spectrum; examples are wire media, such as twisted pair and coaxial cable; fiber
optic cable; and unguided media, such as atmosphere or space propagation. A digital
signal is a sequence of voltage pulses that may be transmitted over a wire medium;
for example, a constant positive voltage level may represent binary 0 and a constant
negative voltage level may represent binary 1.
The principal advantages of digital signaling are that it is generally cheaper
than analog signaling and is less susceptible to noise interference. The principal dis-
advantage is that digital signals suffer more from attenuation than do analog signals.
Figure 3.11 shows a sequence of voltage pulses, generated by a source using two
voltage levels, and the received voltage some distance down a conducting medium.
Because of the attenuation, or reduction, of signal strength at higher frequencies,
the pulses become rounded and smaller. It should be clear that this attenuation can
lead rather quickly to the loss of the information contained in the propagated signal.
In what follows, we first look at some specific examples of signal types and
then discuss the relationship between data and signals.
Examples Let us return to our three examples of the preceding subsection. For
each example, we will describe the signal and estimate its bandwidth.
The most familiar example of analog information is audio, or acoustic, informa-
tion, which, in the form of sound waves, can be perceived directly by human beings. One
form of acoustic information, of course, is human speech. This form of information is
easily converted to an electromagnetic signal for transmission (Figure 3.12). In essence,
all of the sound frequencies, whose amplitude is measured in terms of loudness, are
converted into electromagnetic frequencies, whose amplitude is measured in volts. The
telephone handset contains a simple mechanism for making such a conversion.
In this graph of a typical analog signal, the
variations in amplitude and frequency convey the
gradations of loudness and pitch in speech or music.
Similar signals are used to transmit television
pictures, but at much higher frequencies.
Figure 3.12
Conversion of Voice Input to Analog Signal
82
CHAPTER 3 / DATA TRANSMISSION
In the case of acoustic data (voice), the data can be represented directly by an
electromagnetic signal occupying the same spectrum. However, there is a need to
compromise between the fidelity of the sound as transmitted electrically and the
cost of transmission, which increases with increasing bandwidth. As mentioned, the
spectrum of speech is approximately 100 Hz to 7 kHz, although a much narrower
bandwidth will produce acceptable voice reproduction. The standard spectrum for a
voice channel is 300 to 3400 Hz. This is adequate for speech transmission, minimizes
required transmission capacity, and allows the use of rather inexpensive telephone
sets. The telephone transmitter converts the incoming acoustic voice signal into an
electromagnetic signal over the range 300 to 3400 Hz. This signal is then transmitted
through the telephone system to a receiver, which reproduces it as acoustic sound.
Now let us look at the video signal. To produce a video signal, a TV camera,
which performs similar functions to the TV receiver, is used. One component of the
camera is a photosensitive plate, upon which a scene is optically focused. An elec-
tron beam sweeps across the plate from left to right and top to bottom, in the same
fashion as depicted in Figure 3.10 for the receiver. As the beam sweeps, an analog
electric signal is developed proportional to the brightness of the scene at a particu-
lar spot. We mentioned that a total of 483 lines are scanned at a rate of 30 complete
scans per second. This is an approximate number taking into account the time lost
during the vertical retrace interval. The actual U.S. standard is 525 lines, but of these
about 42 are lost during vertical retrace. Thus the horizontal scanning frequency
is
1525 lines2 * 130 scan/s2 = 15,750
lines per second, or
63.5 ms/line.
Of the
63.5 ms,
about
11 ms
are allowed for horizontal retrace, leaving a total of
52.5 ms
per video line.
Now we are in a position to estimate the bandwidth required for the video signal.
To do this we must estimate the upper (maximum) and lower (minimum) frequency of
the band. We use the following reasoning to arrive at the maximum frequency: The
maximum frequency would occur during the horizontal scan if the scene were alternat-
ing between black and white as rapidly as possible. We can estimate this maximum
value by considering the resolution of the video image. In the vertical dimension, there
are 483 lines, so the maximum vertical resolution would be 483. Experiments have
shown that the actual subjective resolution is about 70% of that number, or about 338
lines. In the interest of a balanced picture, the horizontal and vertical resolutions should
be about the same. Because the ratio of width to height of a TV screen is 4 : 3, the hori-
zontal resolution should be about
lines. As a worst case, a scanning
4/3 * 338 = 450
line would be made up of 450 elements alternating black and white. The scan would
result in a wave, with each cycle of the wave consisting of one higher (black) and one
lower (white) voltage level. Thus there would be
cycles of the wave in
450/2 = 225
52.5 ms, for a maximum frequency of about 4.2 MHz. This rough reasoning, in fact, is
fairly accurate. The lower limit is a dc or zero frequency, where the dc component cor-
responds to the average illumination of the scene (the average value by which the
brightness exceeds the reference black level). Thus the bandwidth of the video signal is
approximately
4 MHz - 0 = 4 MHz.
The foregoing discussion did not consider color or audio components of the
signal. It turns out that, with these included, the bandwidth remains about 4 MHz.
Finally, the third example described is the general case of binary data. Binary
data is generated by terminals, computers, and other data processing equipment
3.2 / ANALOG AND DIGITAL DATA TRANSMISSION
83
0
1
1
1
0
0
0
1
0
1
5 volts
5 volts
0.02 ms
User input at a PC is converted into a stream of binary
digits (1s and 0s). In this graph of a typical digital signal,
binary one is represented by
5 volts and binary zero is
represented by
5 volts. The signal for each bit has a duration
of 0.02 ms, giving a data rate of 50,000 bits per second (50 kbps).
Figure 3.13
Conversion of PC Input to Digital Signal
and then converted into digital voltage pulses for transmission, as illustrated in
Figure 3.13. A commonly used signal for such data uses two constant (dc) voltage
levels, one level for binary 1 and one level for binary 0. (In Chapter 5, we shall see
that this is but one alternative, referred to as NRZ.) Again, we are interested in
the bandwidth of such a signal. This will depend, in any specific case, on the exact
shape of the waveform and the sequence of 1s and 0s.We can obtain some under-
standing by considering Figure 3.8 (compare Figure 3.7). As can be seen, the
greater the bandwidth of the signal, the more faithfully it approximates a digital
pulse stream.
Data and Signals In the foregoing discussion, we have looked at analog signals
used to represent analog data and digital signals used to represent digital data. Gen-
erally, analog data are a function of time and occupy a limited frequency spectrum;
such data can be represented by an electromagnetic signal occupying the same spec-
trum. Digital data can be represented by digital signals, with a different voltage level
for each of the two binary digits.
As Figure 3.14 illustrates, these are not the only possibilities. Digital data can
also be represented by analog signals by use of a modem (modulator/demodulator).
The modem converts a series of binary (two-valued) voltage pulses into an analog
signal by encoding the digital data onto a carrier frequency. The resulting signal
occupies a certain spectrum of frequency centered about the carrier and may be
propagated across a medium suitable for that carrier. The most common modems
represent digital data in the voice spectrum and hence allow those data to be prop-
agated over ordinary voice-grade telephone lines. At the other end of the line,
another modem demodulates the signal to recover the original data.
In an operation very similar to that performed by a modem, analog data can
be represented by digital signals. The device that performs this function for voice
data is a codec (coder-decoder). In essence, the codec takes an analog signal that
directly represents the voice data and approximates that signal by a bit stream. At
the receiving end, the bit stream is used to reconstruct the analog data.
Thus, Figure 3.14 suggests that data may be encoded into signals in a variety of
ways. We will return to this topic in Chapter 5.
84
CHAPTER 3 / DATA TRANSMISSION
Analog signals: Represent data with continuously
varying electromagnetic wave
Analog data
Analog signal
(voice sound waves)
Telephone
Digital data
Analog signal
(binary voltage pulses)
(modulated on
carrier frequency)
Modem
Digital signals: Represent data with sequence
of voltage pulses
Analog signal
Digital signal
Codec
Digital data
Digital signal
Digital
transceiver
Figure 3.14
Analog and Digital Signaling of Analog and Digital Data
Analog and Digital Transmission
Both analog and digital signals may be transmitted on suitable transmission
media.The way these signals are treated is a function of the transmission system.
Table 3.1 summarizes the methods of data transmission. Analog transmission is
a means of transmitting analog signals without regard to their content; the sig-
nals may represent analog data (e.g., voice) or digital data (e.g., binary data that
pass through a modem). In either case, the analog signal will become weaker
(attenuate) after a certain distance. To achieve longer distances, the analog
transmission system includes amplifiers that boost the energy in the signal.
Unfortunately, the amplifier also boosts the noise components. With amplifiers
cascaded to achieve long distances, the signal becomes more and more distorted.
3.2 / ANALOG AND DIGITAL DATA TRANSMISSION
85
Table 3.1
Analog and Digital Transmission
(a) Data and Signals
Analog Signal
Digital Signal
Analog Data
Two alternatives: (1) signal
Analog data are encoded using a codec to produce
occupies the same spectrum as the
a digital bit stream.
analog data; (2) analog data are
encoded to occupy a different
portion of spectrum.
Digital Data
Digital data are encoded using a
Two alternatives: (1) signal consists of two voltage
modem to produce analog signal.
levels to represent the two binary values; (2)
digital data are encoded to produce a digital signal
with desir ed properties.
(b) Treatment of Signals
Analog Transmission
Digital Transmission
Analog Signal
Is propagated through amplifiers;
Assumes that the analog signal represents digital
same treatment whether signal is
data. Signal is propagated through repeaters;
used to represent analog data or
at each repeater, digital data are recovered from
digital data.
inbound signal and used to generate a new analog
outbound signal.
Digital Signal
Not used
Digital signal represents a stream of 1s and 0s,
which may represent digital data or may be an
encoding of analog data. Signal is propagated
through repeaters; at each repeater, stream of 1s
and 0s is recovered from inbound signal and used
to generate a new digital outbound signal.
For analog data, such as voice, quite a bit of distortion can be tolerated and the
data remain intelligible. However, for digital data, cascaded amplifiers will intro-
duce errors.
Digital transmission, in contrast, assumes a binary content to the signal. A
digital signal can be transmitted only a limited distance before attenuation,
noise, and other impairments endanger the integrity of the data. To achieve
greater distances, repeaters are used. A repeater receives the digital signal,
recovers the pattern of 1s and 0s, and retransmits a new signal.Thus the attenua-
tion is overcome.
The same technique may be used with an analog signal if it is assumed that the
signal carries digital data. At appropriately spaced points, the transmission system
has repeaters rather than amplifiers. The repeater recovers the digital data from the
analog signal and generates a new, clean analog signal. Thus noise is not cumulative.
The question naturally arises as to which is the preferred method of transmis-
sion. The answer being supplied by the telecommunications industry and its cus-
tomers is digital. Both long-haul telecommunications facilities and intrabuilding
services have moved to digital transmission and, where possible, digital signaling
techniques. The most important reasons are as follows:
86
CHAPTER 3 / DATA TRANSMISSION
• Digital technology: The advent of large-scale integration (LSI) and very-large-
scale integration (VLSI) technology has caused a continuing drop in the cost
and size of digital circuitry. Analog equipment has not shown a similar drop.
• Data integrity: With the use of repeaters rather than amplifiers, the effects of
noise and other signal impairments are not cumulative. Thus it is possible to
transmit data longer distances and over lower quality lines by digital means
while maintaining the integrity of the data.
• Capacity utilization: It has become economical to build transmission links of
very high bandwidth, including satellite channels and optical fiber. A high
degree of multiplexing is needed to utilize such capacity effectively, and this is
more easily and cheaply achieved with digital (time division) rather than ana-
log (frequency division) techniques. This is explored in Chapter 8.
• Security and privacy: Encryption techniques can be readily applied to digital
data and to analog data that have been digitized.
• Integration: By treating both analog and digital data digitally, all signals have
the same form and can be treated similarly. Thus economies of scale and con-
venience can be achieved by integrating voice, video, and digital data.
3.3
TRANSMISSION IMPAIRMENTS
With any communications system, the signal that is received may differ from the sig-
nal that is transmitted due to various transmission impairments. For analog signals,
these impairments can degrade the signal quality. For digital signals, bit errors may
be introduced, such that a binary 1 is transformed into a binary 0 or vice versa.
In this section, we examine the various impairments and how they may affect the
information-carrying capacity of a communication link; Chapter 5 looks at measures
that can be taken to compensate for these impairments.
The most significant impairments are
• Attenuation and attenuation distortion
• Delay distortion
• Noise
Attenuation
The strength of a signal falls off with distance over any transmission medium. For
guided media, this reduction in strength, or attenuation, is generally exponential and
thus is typically expressed as a constant number of decibels per unit distance. For
unguided media, attenuation is a more complex function of distance and the
makeup of the atmosphere. Attenuation introduces three considerations for the
transmission engineer. First, a received signal must have sufficient strength so that
the electronic circuitry in the receiver can detect the signal. Second, the signal must
maintain a level sufficiently higher than noise to be received without error. Third,
attenuation varies with frequency.
The first and second problems are dealt with by attention to signal strength and
the use of amplifiers or repeaters. For a point-to-point link, the signal strength of the
3.3 / TRANSMISSION IMPAIRMENTS
87
transmitter must be strong enough to be received intelligibly, but not so strong as to
overload the circuitry of the transmitter or receiver, which would cause distortion.
Beyond a certain distance, the attenuation becomes unacceptably great, and repeaters
or amplifiers are used to boost the signal at regular intervals. These problems are more
complex for multipoint lines where the distance from transmitter to receiver is variable.
The third problem is particularly noticeable for analog signals. Because the
attenuation varies as a function of frequency, the received signal is distorted, reduc-
ing intelligibility. To overcome this problem, techniques are available for equalizing
attenuation across a band of frequencies. This is commonly done for voice-grade
telephone lines by using loading coils that change the electrical properties of the
line; the result is to smooth out attenuation effects. Another approach is to use
amplifiers that amplify high frequencies more than lower frequencies.
An example is provided in Figure 3.15a, which shows attenuation as a function
of frequency for a typical leased line. In the figure, attenuation is measured relative
to the attenuation at 1000 Hz. Positive values on the y-axis represent attenuation
greater than that at 1000 Hz. A 1000-Hz tone of a given power level is applied to the
input, and the power,
is measured at the output. For any other frequency f, the
P1000,
procedure is repeated and the relative attenuation in decibels is8
Pf
Nf = - 10 log10
P
1000
The solid line in Figure 3.15a shows attenuation without equalization. As can
be seen, frequency components at the upper end of the voice band are attenuated
much more than those at lower frequencies. It should be clear that this will result in
a distortion of the received speech signal. The dashed line shows the effect of equal-
ization. The flattened response curve improves the quality of voice signals. It also
allows higher data rates to be used for digital data that are passed through a modem.
Attenuation distortion can present less of a problem with digital signals. As
we have seen, the strength of a digital signal falls off rapidly with frequency
(Figure 3.5b); most of the content is concentrated near the fundamental frequency
or bit rate of the signal.
Delay Distortion
Delay distortion occurs because the velocity of propagation of a signal through a
guided medium varies with frequency. For a bandlimited signal, the velocity tends to
be highest near the center frequency and fall off toward the two edges of the band.
Thus various frequency components of a signal will arrive at the receiver at different
times, resulting in phase shifts between the different frequencies.
This effect is referred to as delay distortion because the received signal is
distorted due to varying delays experienced at its constituent frequencies. Delay dis-
tortion is particularly critical for digital data. Consider that a sequence of bits is
being transmitted, using either analog or digital signals. Because of delay distortion,
some of the signal components of one bit position will spill over into other bit posi-
tions, causing intersymbol interference, which is a major limitation to maximum bit
rate over a transmission channel.
8In the remainder of this book, unless otherwise indicated, we use log(x) to mean log101x2.
88
CHAPTER 3 / DATA TRANSMISSION
10
1
Without
equalization
5
0
2
With
equalization
50
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
Frequency (Hertz)
(a) Attenuation
4000
1
Without
3000
equalization
2000
1000
With
2
equalization
0
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
Frequency (Hertz)
(b) Delay distortion
Figure 3.15
Attenuation and Delay Distortion Curves for
a Voice Channel
3.3 / TRANSMISSION IMPAIRMENTS
89
Equalizing techniques can also be used for delay distortion. Again using a
leased telephone line as an example, Figure 3.15b shows the effect of equalization
on delay as a function of frequency.
Noise
For any data transmission event, the received signal will consist of the transmitted
signal, modified by the various distortions imposed by the transmission system, plus
additional unwanted signals that are inserted somewhere between transmission and
reception. The latter, undesired signals are referred to as noise. Noise is the major
limiting factor in communications system performance.
Noise may be divided into four categories:
• Thermal noise
• Intermodulation noise
• Crosstalk
• Impulse noise
Thermal noise is due to thermal agitation of electrons. It is present in all elec-
tronic devices and transmission media and is a function of temperature. Thermal
noise is uniformly distributed across the bandwidths typically used in communica-
tions systems and hence is often referred to as white noise. Thermal noise cannot be
eliminated and therefore places an upper bound on communications system perfor-
mance. Because of the weakness of the signal received by satellite earth stations,
thermal noise is particularly significant for satellite communication.
The amount of thermal noise to be found in a bandwidth of 1 Hz in any device
or conductor is
N0 = kT1W/Hz2
where9
N0 = noise power density in watts per 1 Hz of bandwidth
k = Boltzmann’s constant = 1.38 * 10-23 J/K
T = temperature, in kelvins 1absolute temperature2,where the
symbol K is used to represent 1 kelvin
EXAMPLE 3.1 Room temperature is usually specified as
or 290 K.
T = 17°C,
At this temperature, the thermal noise power density is
N0 = 11.38 * 10-232 * 290 = 4 * 10-21 W/Hz = -204 dBW/Hz
where dBW is the decibel-watt, defined in Appendix 3A.
9A Joule (J) is the International System (SI) unit of electrical, mechanical, and thermal energy. A Watt is the
SI unit of power, equal to one Joule per second. The kelvin (K) is the SI unit of thermodynamic temperature.
For a temperature in kelvins of T, the corresponding temperature in degrees Celsius is equal to T - 273.15.
90
CHAPTER 3 / DATA TRANSMISSION
The noise is assumed to be independent of frequency. Thus the thermal noise
in watts present in a bandwidth of B Hertz can be expressed as
N = kTB
or, in decibel-watts,
N = 10 log k + 10 log T + 10 log B
= -228.6 dBW + 10 log T + 10 log B
EXAMPLE 3.2 Given a receiver with an effective noise temperature of 294 K
and a 10-MHz bandwidth, the thermal noise level at the receiver’s output is
N = -228.6 dBW + 10 log12942 + 10 log 107
= -228.6 + 24.7 + 70
= -133.9 dBW
When signals at different frequencies share the same transmission medium,
the result may be intermodulation noise. The effect of intermodulation noise is to
produce signals at a frequency that is the sum or difference of the two original
frequencies or multiples of those frequencies. For example, the mixing of signals at
frequencies f and f might produce energy at the frequency
This derived
f1 + f2.
1
2
signal could interfere with an intended signal at the frequency
f1 + f2.
Intermodulation noise is produced by nonlinearities in the transmitter, receiver,
and/or intervening transmission medium. Ideally, these components behave as linear
systems; that is, the output is equal to the input times a constant. However, in any real
system, the output is a more complex function of the input. Excessive nonlinearity can
be caused by component malfunction or overload from excessive signal strength. It is
under these circumstances that the sum and difference frequency terms occur.
Crosstalk has been experienced by anyone who, while using the telephone, has
been able to hear another conversation; it is an unwanted coupling between signal
paths. It can occur by electrical coupling between nearby twisted pairs or, rarely,
coax cable lines carrying multiple signals. Crosstalk can also occur when microwave
antennas pick up unwanted signals; although highly directional antennas are used,
microwave energy does spread during propagation. Typically, crosstalk is of the
same order of magnitude as, or less than, thermal noise.
All of the types of noise discussed so far have reasonably predictable and rel-
atively constant magnitudes. Thus it is possible to engineer a transmission system to
cope with them. Impulse noise, however, is noncontinuous, consisting of irregular
pulses or noise spikes of short duration and of relatively high amplitude. It is gener-
ated from a variety of causes, including external electromagnetic disturbances, such
as lightning, and faults and flaws in the communications system.
Impulse noise is generally only a minor annoyance for analog data. For exam-
ple, voice transmission may be corrupted by short clicks and crackles with no loss of
intelligibility. However, impulse noise is the primary source of error in digital data
3.4 / CHANNEL CAPACITY
91
Data
transmitted:
1
0
1
0
0
1
1
0
0
1
1
0
1
0
1
Signal:
Noise:
Signal plus
noise:
Sampling
times:
Data received:
1
0
1
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
1
0
1
1
1
Original data:
1
0
1
0
0
1
1
0
0
1
1
0
1
0
1
Bits in error
Figure 3.16
Effect of Noise on a Digital Signal
communication. For example, a sharp spike of energy of 0.01 s duration would not
destroy any voice data but would wash out about 560 bits of digital data being trans-
mitted at 56 kbps. Figure 3.16 is an example of the effect of noise on a digital signal.
Here the noise consists of a relatively modest level of thermal noise plus occasional
spikes of impulse noise. The digital data can be recovered from the signal by sam-
pling the received waveform once per bit time. As can be seen, the noise is occasion-
ally sufficient to change a 1 to a 0 or a 0 to a 1.
3.4
CHANNEL CAPACITY
We have seen that there are a variety of impairments that distort or corrupt a signal.
For digital data, the question that then arises is to what extent these impairments
limit the data rate that can be achieved. The maximum rate at which data can be
transmitted over a given communication path, or channel, under given conditions, is
referred to as the channel capacity.
There are four concepts here that we are trying to relate to one another.
• Data rate: The rate, in bits per second (bps), at which data can be com-
municated
92
CHAPTER 3 / DATA TRANSMISSION
• Bandwidth: The bandwidth of the transmitted signal as constrained by the
transmitter and the nature of the transmission medium, expressed in cycles per
second, or Hertz
• Noise: The average level of noise over the communications path
• Error rate: The rate at which errors occur, where an error is the reception of a
1 when a 0 was transmitted or the reception of a 0 when a 1 was transmitted
The problem we are addressing is this: Communications facilities are
expensive and, in general, the greater the bandwidth of a facility, the greater the
cost. Furthermore, all transmission channels of any practical interest are of
limited bandwidth. The limitations arise from the physical properties of the
transmission medium or from deliberate limitations at the transmitter on the
bandwidth to prevent interference from other sources. Accordingly, we would
like to make as efficient use as possible of a given bandwidth. For digital data,
this means that we would like to get as high a data rate as possible at a particu-
lar limit of error rate for a given bandwidth. The main constraint on achieving
this efficiency is noise.
Nyquist Bandwidth
To begin, let us consider the case of a channel that is noise free. In this environ-
ment, the limitation on data rate is simply the bandwidth of the signal. A formu-
lation of this limitation, due to Nyquist, states that if the rate of signal
transmission is 2B, then a signal with frequencies no greater than B is sufficient
to carry the signal rate. The converse is also true: Given a bandwidth of B, the
highest signal rate that can be carried is 2B. This limitation is due to the effect of
intersymbol interference, such as is produced by delay distortion. The result is
useful in the development of digital-to-analog encoding schemes and is, in
essence, based on the same derivation as that of the sampling theorem, described
in Appendix F.
Note that in the preceding paragraph, we referred to signal rate. If the signals
to be transmitted are binary (two voltage levels), then the data rate that can be sup-
ported by B Hz is 2B bps. However, as we shall see in Chapter 5, signals with more
than two levels can be used; that is, each signal element can represent more than one
bit. For example, if four possible voltage levels are used as signals, then each signal
element can represent two bits. With multilevel signaling, the Nyquist formulation
becomes
C = 2B log2M
where M is the number of discrete signal or voltage levels.
So, for a given bandwidth, the data rate can be increased by increasing the
number of different signal elements. However, this places an increased burden
on the receiver: Instead of distinguishing one of two possible signal elements
during each signal time, it must distinguish one of M possible signal elements.
Noise and other impairments on the transmission line will limit the practical
value of M.
3.4 / CHANNEL CAPACITY
93
EXAMPLE 3.3 Consider a voice channel being used, via modem, to transmit
digital data.Assume a bandwidth of 3100 Hz.Then the Nyquist capacity, C, of the
channel is
For
a value used with some modems, C
2B = 6200 bps.
M = 8,
becomes 18,600 bps for a bandwidth of 3100 Hz.
Shannon Capacity Formula
Nyquist’s formula indicates that, all other things being equal, doubling the band-
width doubles the data rate. Now consider the relationship among data rate, noise,
and error rate. The presence of noise can corrupt one or more bits. If the data rate is
increased, then the bits become “shorter” so that more bits are affected by a given
pattern of noise.
Figure 3.16 illustrates this relationship. If the data rate is increased, then more
bits will occur during the interval of a noise spike, and hence more errors will occur.
All of these concepts can be tied together neatly in a formula developed by the
mathematician Claude Shannon. As we have just illustrated, the higher the data rate,
the more damage that unwanted noise can do. For a given level of noise, we would
expect that a greater signal strength would improve the ability to receive data cor-
rectly in the presence of noise. The key parameter involved in this reasoning is the
signal-to-noise ratio (SNR, or S/N),10 which is the ratio of the power in a signal to the
power contained in the noise that is present at a particular point in the transmission.
Typically, this ratio is measured at a receiver, because it is at this point that an attempt
is made to process the signal and recover the data. For convenience, this ratio is often
reported in decibels:
signal power
SNRdB = 10 log10
noise power
This expresses the amount, in decibels, that the intended signal exceeds the noise
level. A high SNR will mean a high-quality signal and a low number of required
intermediate repeaters.
The signal-to-noise ratio is important in the transmission of digital data
because it sets the upper bound on the achievable data rate. Shannon’s result is that
the maximum channel capacity, in bits per second, obeys the equation
C = B log211 + SNR2
(3.1)
where C is the capacity of the channel in bits per second and B is the bandwidth of
the channel in Hertz. The Shannon formula represents the theoretical maximum
that can be achieved. In practice, however, only much lower rates are achieved. One
reason for this is that the formula assumes white noise (thermal noise). Impulse
noise is not accounted for, nor are attenuation distortion or delay distortion. Even in
10Some of the literature uses SNR; others use S/N. Also, in some cases the dimensionless quantity is
referred to as SNR or S/N and the quantity in decibels is referred to as
SNRdb
or
1S/N2db .
Others use just
SNR or S/N to mean the dB quantity. This text uses SNR and SNRdb .
94
CHAPTER 3 / DATA TRANSMISSION
an ideal white noise environment, present technology still cannot achieve Shannon
capacity due to encoding issues, such as coding length and complexity.
The capacity indicated in the preceding equation is referred to as the error-free
capacity. Shannon proved that if the actual information rate on a channel is less than
the error-free capacity, then it is theoretically possible to use a suitable signal code to
achieve error-free transmission through the channel. Shannon’s theorem unfortu-
nately does not suggest a means for finding such codes, but it does provide a yardstick
by which the performance of practical communication schemes may be measured.
Several other observations concerning the preceding equation may be instructive.
For a given level of noise, it would appear that the data rate could be increased by
increasing either signal strength or bandwidth. However, as the signal strength increases,
so do the effects of nonlinearities in the system, leading to an increase in intermodula-
tion noise. Note also that, because noise is assumed to be white, the wider the band-
width, the more noise is admitted to the system. Thus, as B increases, SNR decreases.
EXAMPLE 3.4 Let us consider an example that relates the Nyquist and Shan-
non formulations. Suppose that the spectrum of a channel is between 3 MHz and
4 MHz and
Then
SNRdB = 24 dB.
B = 4 MHz - 3 MHz = 1 MHz
SNRdB = 24 dB = 10 log101SNR2
SNR = 251
Using Shannon’s formula,
C = 106 * log211 + 2512 L 106 * 8 = 8 Mbps
This is a theoretical limit and, as we have said, is unlikely to be reached. But
assume we can achieve the limit. Based on Nyquist’s formula, how many signal-
ing levels are required? We have
C = 2B log2M
8 * 106 = 2 * 11062 * log2M
4 = log2M
M = 16
The Expression
Eb/N0
Finally, we mention a parameter related to SNR that is more convenient for determining
digital data rates and error rates and that is the standard quality measure for digital com-
munication system performance. The parameter is the ratio of signal energy per bit to
noise power density per Hertz,
Consider a signal, digital or analog, that contains
Eb/N0 .
binary digital data transmitted at a certain bit rate R. Recalling that
1 Watt = 1 J/s,
the
energy per bit in a signal is given by
where S is the signal power and Tb is the
Eb = STb ,
time required to send one bit.The data rate R is just R = 1/Tb.Thus
3.4 / CHANNEL CAPACITY
95
S>R
Eb
=
= S
N0
N0
kTR
or, in decibel notation,
Eb
a
b
= SdBW - 10 log R - 10 log k - 10 log T
N
0
dB
= SdBW - 10 log R + 228.6 dBW - 10 log T
The ratio
is important because the bit error rate for digital data is a (decreas-
Eb/N0
ing) function of this ratio. Given a value of
needed to achieve a desired error
Eb/N0
rate, the parameters in the preceding formula may be selected. Note that as the bit
rate R increases, the transmitted signal power, relative to noise, must increase to
maintain the required
Eb/N0 .
Let us try to grasp this result intuitively by considering again Figure 3.16. The
signal here is digital, but the reasoning would be the same for an analog signal. In
several instances, the noise is sufficient to alter the value of a bit. If the data rate
were doubled, the bits would be more tightly packed together, and the same passage
of noise might destroy two bits. Thus, for constant signal to noise ratio, an increase in
data rate increases the error rate.
The advantage of
over SNR is that the latter quantity depends on the
Eb/N0
bandwidth.
EXAMPLE 3.5 For binary phase-shift keying (defined in Chapter 5),
Eb/N0 =
8.4 dB is required for a bit error rate of
(one bit error out of every 10,000). If
10-4
the effective noise temperature is 290°K (room temperature) and the data rate is
2400 bps, what received signal level is required?
We have
8.4 = S1dBW2 - 10 log 2400 + 228.6 dBW - 10 log 290
= S1dBW2 - 110213.382 + 228.6 - 110212.462
S = -161.8 dBW
We can relate
to SNR as follows. We have
Eb/N0
Eb
= S
N0
N0R
0
The parameter N is the noise power density in Watts/Hertz. Hence, the noise in a
signal with bandwidth B is
N = N0B.
Substituting, we have
Eb
BT
= S
(3.2)
N0
N R
Another formulation of interest relates
to spectral efficiency. Shannon’s
Eb/N0
result (Equation 3.1) can be rewritten as:
96
CHAPTER 3 / DATA TRANSMISSION
S
2C>B - 1
N =
Using Equation (3.2), and equating R with C, we have
Eb
= B
12
N0
C12C>B -
This is a useful formula that relates the achievable spectral efficiency C/B to Eb/N0 .
EXAMPLE 3.6 Suppose we want to find the minimum
required to
Eb/N0
achieve a spectral efficiency of 6 bps/Hz.Then
Eb/N0 = 11/62126 - 12 = 10.5 = 10.21 dB.
3.5
RECOMMENDED READING AND WEB SITE
There are many books that cover the fundamentals of analog and digital transmission.
[COUC01] is quite thorough. Other good reference works are [FREE05], which includes
some of the examples used in this chapter, and [HAYK01].
COUC01 Couch, L. Digital and Analog Communication Systems. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice Hall, 2001.
FREE05 Freeman, R. Fundamentals of Telecommunications. New York: Wiley, 2005.
HAYK01 Haykin, S. Communication Systems. New York: Wiley, 2001.
Recommended Web site:
• Fourier series synthesis: An excellent visualization tool for Fourier series
3.6
KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
Key Terms
absolute bandwidth
attenuation distortion
data
analog data
audio
dc component
analog signal
bandwidth
decibel (dB)
analog transmission
center frequency
delay distortion
aperiodic
channel capacity
digital data
attenuation
crosstalk
digital signal
3.6 / KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
97
digital transmission
intermodulation noise
signaling
direct link
loss
simplex
effective bandwidth
multipoint link
sinusoid
frequency
noise
spectrum
frequency domain
Nyquist bandwidth
thermal noise
full duplex
peak amplitude
time domain
fundamental frequency
period
transmission
gain
periodic signal
unguided media
guided media
point-to-point link
video
half duplex
phase
wavelength
impulse noise
signal
wireless
interlacing
signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)
Review Questions
3.1. Differentiate between guided media and unguided media.
3.2. Differentiate between an analog and a digital electromagnetic signal.
3.3. What are three important characteristics of a periodic signal?
3.4. How many radians are there in a complete circle of 360 degrees?
3.5. What is the relationship between the wavelength and frequency of a sine wave?
3.6. Define fundamental frequency.
3.7. What is the relationship between a signal’s spectrum and its bandwidth?
3.8. What is attenuation?
3.9. Define channel capacity.
3.10. What key factors affect channel capacity?
Problems
3.1
a. For multipoint configuration, only one device at a time can transmit. Why?
b. There are two methods of enforcing the rule that only one device can transmit. In
the centralized method, one station is in control and can either transmit or allow a
specified other station to transmit. In the decentralized method, the stations
jointly cooperate in taking turns. What do you see as the advantages and disad-
vantages of the two methods?
3.2
A signal has a fundamental frequency of 1000 Hz. What is its period?
3.3
Express the following in the simplest form you can:
a.
sin12pft - p2 + sin12pft + p2
b.
sin 2pft + sin12pft - p2
3.4
Sound may be modeled as sinusoidal functions. Compare the relative frequency and
wavelength of musical notes. Use 330 m/s as the speed of sound and the following
frequencies for the musical scale.
Note
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
C
Frequency
264
297
330
352
396
440
495
528
3.5
If the solid curve in Figure 3.17 represents
sin12pt2,
what does the dotted curve
represent? That is, the dotted curve can be written in the form A
sin12pft + f2;
what
are A, f, and
f?
3.6
Decompose the signal
11 + 0.1 cos 5t2cos 100t
into a linear combination of sinu-
soidal functions, and find the amplitude, frequency, and phase of each component.
Hint: Use the identity for cos a cos b.
98
CHAPTER 3 / DATA TRANSMISSION
2.0
1.0
0
1.0
2.0
0.5
0
0.5
Figure 3.17
Figure for Problem 3.5
3.7
Find the period of the function
f1t2 = 110 cos t22.
3.8
Consider two periodic functions
f11t2
and
f21t2,
with periods T and
1
T2,
respectively.
Is it always the case that the function
is periodic? If so, demon-
f1t2 = f11t2 + f21t2
strate this fact. If not, under what conditions is f(t) periodic?
3.9
Figure 3.4 shows the effect of eliminating higher-harmonic components of a square
wave and retaining only a few lower harmonic components. What would the signal
look like in the opposite case; that is, retaining all higher harmonics and eliminating a
few lower harmonics?
3.10
Figure 3.5b shows the frequency domain function for a single square pulse. The single
pulse could represent a digital 1 in a communication system. Note that an infinite
number of higher frequencies of decreasing magnitudes is needed to represent the
single pulse. What implication does that have for a real digital transmission system?
3.11
IRA is a 7-bit code that allows 128 characters to be defined. In the 1970s, many news-
papers received stories from the wire services in a 6-bit code called TTS. This code
carried upper- and lower case characters as well as many special characters and for-
matting commands. The typical TTS character set allowed over 100 characters to be
defined. How do you think this could be accomplished?
3.12
For a video signal, what increase in horizontal resolution is possible if a bandwidth of
5 MHz is used? What increase in vertical resolution is possible? Treat the two ques-
tions separately; that is, the increased bandwidth is to be used to increase either hori-
zontal or vertical resolution, but not both.
3.13
a. Suppose that a digitized TV picture is to be transmitted from a source that uses a
matrix of
picture elements (pixels), where each pixel can take on one
480 * 500
of 32 intensity values. Assume that 30 pictures are sent per second. (This digital
source is roughly equivalent to broadcast TV standards that have been adopted.)
Find the source rate R (bps).
b. Assume that the TV picture is to be transmitted over a channel with 4.5-MHz band-
width and a 35-dB signal-to-noise ratio. Find the capacity of the channel (bps).
c. Discuss how the parameters given in part (a) could be modified to allow transmis-
sion of color TV signals without increasing the required value for R.
3.14
Given an amplifier with an effective noise temperature of 10,000 K and a 10-MHz
bandwidth, what thermal noise level, in dBW, may we expect at its output?
3.15
What is the channel capacity for a teleprinter channel with a 300-Hz bandwidth and a
signal-to-noise ratio of 3 dB, where the noise is white thermal noise?
3.16
A digital signaling system is required to operate at 9600 bps.
a. If a signal element encodes a 4-bit word, what is the minimum required bandwidth
of the channel?
b. Repeat part (a) for the case of 8-bit words.
APPENDIX 3A DECIBELS AND SIGNAL STRENGTH
99
3.17
What is the thermal noise level of a channel with a bandwidth of 10 kHz carrying 1000
watts of power operating at 50°C?
3.18
Given the narrow (usable) audio bandwidth of a telephone transmission facility, a
nominal SNR of 56dB (400,000), and a certain level of distortion,
a. What is the theoretical maximum channel capacity (kbps) of traditional telephone
lines?
b. What can we say about the actual maximum channel capacity?
3.19
Study the works of Shannon and Nyquist on channel capacity. Each places an upper limit
on the bit rate of a channel based on two different approaches. How are the two related?
3.19
Consider a channel with a 1-MHz capacity and an SNR of 63.
a. What is the upper limit to the data rate that the channel can carry?
b. The result of part (a) is the upper limit. However, as a practical matter, better
error performance will be achieved at a lower data rate. Assume we choose a data
rate of 2/3 the maximum theoretical limit. How many signal levels are needed to
achieve this data rate?
3.20
Given the narrow (usable) audio bandwidth of a telephone transmission facility, a
nominal
SNR
dB
of 56dB (400,000), and a distortion level of
6 0.2%,
a. What is the theoretical maximum channel capacity (kbps) of traditional telephone
lines?
b. What is the actual maximum channel capacity?
3.21
Given a channel with an intended capacity of 20 Mbps, the bandwidth of the channel
is 3 MHz. Assuming white thermal noise, what signal-to-noise ratio is required to
achieve this capacity?
3.22
The square wave of Figure 3.7c, with
is passed through a lowpass filter that
T = 1 ms,
passes frequencies up to 8 kHz with no attenuation.
a. Find the power in the output waveform.
b. Assuming that at the filter input there is a thermal noise voltage with
find the output signal to noise ratio in dB.
N0 = 0.1 mWatt/Hz,
3.23
If the received signal level for a particular digital system is
and the
- 151 dBW
receiver system effective noise temperature is 1500 K, what is
for a link trans-
Eb/N0
mitting 2400 bps?
3.24
Fill in the missing elements in the following table of approximate power ratios for
various dB levels.
Decibels
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Losses
0.5
0.1
Gains
2
10
3.25
If an amplifier has a 30-dB voltage gain, what voltage ratio does the gain represent?
3.26
An amplifier has an output of 20 W. What is its output in dBW?
APPENDIX 3A DECIBELS AND SIGNAL STRENGTH
An important parameter in any transmission system is the signal strength.As a signal prop-
agates along a transmission medium, there will be a loss, or attenuation, of signal strength.To
compensate, amplifiers may be inserted at various points to impart a gain in signal strength.
It is customary to express gains, losses, and relative levels in decibels because
• Signal strength often falls off exponentially, so loss is easily expressed in terms of the
decibel, which is a logarithmic unit.
• The net gain or loss in a cascaded transmission path can be calculated with simple
addition and subtraction.
100
CHAPTER 3 / DATA TRANSMISSION
Table 3.2
Decibel Values
Power Ratio
dB
Power Ratio
dB
-1
101
10
10
- 10
-2
102
20
10
- 20
-3
103
30
10
- 30
-4
104
40
10
- 40
-5
105
50
10
- 50
-6
106
60
10
- 60
The decibel is a measure of the ratio between two signal levels. The decibel gain is given by
Pout
GdB = 10 log10
P
in
where
GdB = gain, in decibels
P
in
= input power level
Pout = output power level
log10 = logarithm to the base 10
Table 3.2 shows the relationship between decibel values and powers of 10.
There is some inconsistency in the literature over the use of the terms gain and loss. If
the value of
is positive, this represents an actual gain in power. For example, a gain of
GdB
3 dB means that the power has doubled. If the value of
is negative, this represents an
GdB
actual loss in power. For example, a gain of
means that the power has halved, and this
- 3 dB
is a loss of power. Normally, this is expressed by saying there is a loss of 3 dB. However, some
of the literature would say that this is a loss of
It makes more sense to say that a
- 3 dB.
negative gain corresponds to a positive loss. Therefore, we define a decibel loss as
Pout
P
in
LdB = - 10 log10
= 10 log10
(3.3)
P
in
Pout
EXAMPLE 3.7 If a signal with a power level of 10 mW is inserted onto a trans-
mission line and the measured power some distance away is 5 mW, the loss can be
expressed as
LdB = 10 log110/52 = 1010.32 = 3 dB.
Note that the decibel is a measure of relative, not absolute, difference. A loss from 1000 mW
to 500 mW is also a loss of 3 dB.
The decibel is also used to measure the difference in voltage, taking into account that
power is proportional to the square of the voltage:
2
V
P =
R
APPENDIX 3A DECIBELS AND SIGNAL STRENGTH
101
where
P = power dissipated across resistance R
V = voltage across resistance R
Thus
P
in
V
in
2 >R
V
in
LdB = 10 log
10 log
= 20 log
Pout =
V2ut>R
V
out
EXAMPLE 3.8 Decibels are useful in determining the gain or loss over a series of
transmission elements. Consider a series in which the input is at a power level of
4 mW, the first element is a transmission line with a 12-dB loss (
gain), the
- 12-dB
second element is an amplifier with a 35-dB gain, and the third element is a trans-
mission line with a 10-dB loss. The net gain is
1-12 + 35 - 102 = 13 dB.
To calcu-
late the output power Pout:
GdB = 13 = 10 log1Pout/4 mW2
Pout = 4 * 101.3 mW = 79.8 mW
Decibel values refer to relative magnitudes or changes in magnitude, not to an absolute
level. It is convenient to be able to refer to an absolute level of power or voltage in decibels so
that gains and losses with reference to an initial signal level may be calculated easily. The dBW
(decibel-Watt) is used extensively in microwave applications. The value of 1 W is selected as
a reference and defined to be 0 dBW. The absolute decibel level of power in dBW is defined as
PowerW
PowerdBW = 10 log
1 W
EXAMPLE 3.9 A power of 1000 W is 30 dBW, and a power of 1 mW is
- 30 dBW.
Another common unit is the dBm (decibel-milliWatt), which uses 1 mW as the
reference. Thus
The formula is
0 dBm = 1 mW.
PowermW
PowerdBm = 10 log
1 mW
Note the following relationships:
+ 30 dBm = 0 dBW
0 dBm = - 30 dBW
A unit in common use in cable television and broadband LAN applications is the
dBmV (decibel-millivolt). This is an absolute unit with 0 dBmV equivalent to 1 mV. Thus
VoltagemV
VoltagedBmV = 20 log
1 mV
In this case, the voltage levels are assumed to be across a 75-ohm resistance.
CHAPTER 4
TRANSMISSION MEDIA
4.1
Guided Transmission Media
4.2
Wireless Transmission
4.3
Wireless Propagation
4.4
Line-of-Sight Transmission
4.5
Recommended Reading and Web Sites
4.6
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
102
Communication channels in the animal world include touch, sound, sight, and scent.
Electric eels even use electric pulses. Ravens also are very expressive. By a combina-
tion voice, patterns of feather erection and body posture ravens communicate so
clearly that an experienced observer can identify anger, affection, hunger, curiosity,
playfulness, fright, boldness, and depression.
—Mind of the Raven, Bernd Heinrich
KEY POINTS
• The transmission media that are used to convey information can be
classified as guided or unguided. Guided media provide a physical
path along which the signals are propagated; these include twisted
pair, coaxial cable, and optical fiber. Unguided media employ an
antenna for transmitting through air, vacuum, or water.
• Traditionally, twisted pair has been the workhorse for communications
of all sorts. Higher data rates over longer distances can be achieved
with coaxial cable, and so coaxial cable has often been used for high-
speed local area network and for high-capacity long-distance trunk
applications. However, the tremendous capacity of optical fiber has
made that medium more attractive than coaxial cable, and thus optical
fiber has taken over much of the market for high-speed LANs and for
long-distance applications.
• Unguided transmission techniques commonly used for information
communications include broadcast radio, terrestrial microwave, and
satellite. Infrared transmission is used in some LAN applications.
In a data transmission system, the transmission medium is the physical path
between transmitter and receiver. Recall from Chapter 3 that for guided media,
electromagnetic waves are guided along a solid medium, such as copper twisted
pair, copper coaxial cable, and optical fiber. For unguided media, wireless trans-
mission occurs through the atmosphere, outer space, or water.
The characteristics and quality of a data transmission are determined both
by the characteristics of the medium and the characteristics of the signal. In the
case of guided media, the medium itself is more important in determining the
limitations of transmission.
For unguided media, the bandwidth of the signal produced by the transmit-
ting antenna is more important than the medium in determining transmission
characteristics. One key property of signals transmitted by antenna is directional-
ity. In general, signals at lower frequencies are omnidirectional; that is, the signal
propagates in all directions from the antenna. At higher frequencies, it is possible
to focus the signal into a directional beam.
103
104
CHAPTER 4 / TRANSMISSION MEDIA
In considering the design of data transmission systems, key concerns are
data rate and distance: the greater the data rate and distance the better. A
number of design factors relating to the transmission medium and the signal
determine the data rate and distance:
• Bandwidth: All other factors remaining constant, the greater the band-
width of a signal, the higher the data rate that can be achieved.
• Transmission impairments: Impairments, such as attenuation, limit the dis-
tance. For guided media, twisted pair generally suffers more impairment
than coaxial cable, which in turn suffers more than optical fiber.
• Interference: Interference from competing signals in overlapping fre-
quency bands can distort or wipe out a signal. Interference is of particular
concern for unguided media, but is also a problem with guided media. For
guided media, interference can be caused by emanations from nearby
cables. For example, twisted pairs are often bundled together and conduits
often carry multiple cables. Interference can also be experienced from
unguided transmissions. Proper shielding of a guided medium can mini-
mize this problem.
• Number of receivers: A guided medium can be used to construct a point-
to-point link or a shared link with multiple attachments. In the latter case,
each attachment introduces some attenuation and distortion on the line,
limiting distance and/or data rate.
Figure 4.1 depicts the electromagnetic spectrum and indicates the fre-
quencies at which various guided media and unguided transmission tech-
niques operate. In this chapter we examine these guided and unguided
alternatives. In all cases, we describe the systems physically, briefly discuss
applications, and summarize key transmission characteristics.
4.1
GUIDED TRANSMISSION MEDIA
For guided transmission media, the transmission capacity, in terms of either data
rate or bandwidth, depends critically on the distance and on whether the medium is
point-to-point or multipoint. Table 4.1 indicates the characteristics typical for the
common guided media for long-distance point-to-point applications; we defer a
discussion of the use of these media for LANs to Part Four.
The three guided media commonly used for data transmission are twisted pair,
coaxial cable, and optical fiber (Figure 4.2). We examine each of these in turn.
Twisted Pair
The least expensive and most widely used guided transmission medium is twisted
pair.
Physical Description A twisted pair consists of two insulated copper wires
arranged in a regular spiral pattern. A wire pair acts as a single communication link.
Frequency
(Hertz)
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
1010
1011
1012
1013
1014
1015
ELF
VF
VLF
LF
MF
HF
VHF
UHF
SHF
EHF
Visible
Power and telephone
Radio
Microwave
Infrared
light
Rotating generators
Radios and televisions
Radar
Lasers
Musical instruments
Electronic tubes
Microwave antennas
Guided missiles
Voice microphones
Integrated circuits
Magnetrons
Rangefinders
Cellular telephony
Twisted pair
Optical
fiber
Coaxial cable
AM radio
FM radio
Terrestrial
and TV
and satellite
transmission
Wavelength
106
105
104
103
102
101
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
in space
(meters)
ELF Extremely low frequency
MF Medium frequency
UHF Ultra high frequency
VF Voice frequency
HF High frequency
SHF Super high frequency
VLF Very low frequency
VHF Very high frequency
EHF Extremely high frequency
LF Low frequency
Figure 4.1
Electromagnetic Spectrum for Telecommunications
106
CHAPTER 4 / TRANSMISSION MEDIA
Table 4.1
Point-to-Point Transmission Characteristics of Guided Media [GLOV98]
Frequency Range
Typical Attenuation
Typical Delay
Repeater Spacing
Twisted pair (with
0 to 3.5 kHz
0.2 dB/km @ 1 kHz
50 ms/km
2 km
loading)
Twisted pairs
0 to 1 MHz
0.7 dB/km @ 1 kHz
5 ms/km
2 km
(multipair cables)
Coaxial cable
0 to 500 MHz
7 dB/km @ 10 MHz
4 ms/km
1 to 9 km
Optical fiber
186 to 370 THz
0.2 to 0.5 dB/km
5 ms/km
40 km
THz = TeraHertz = 1012 Hz
Twist
length
—Separately insulated
—Twisted together
—Often "bundled" into cables
—Usually installed in building
during construction
(a) Twisted pair
Outer
Outer sheath
conductor
Insulation
Inner
conductor
—Outer conductor is braided shield
—Inner conductor is solid metal
—Separated by insulating material
—Covered by padding
(b) Coaxial cable
Jacket
Core
Cladding
—Glass or plastic core
Angle of
Angle of
—Laser or light emitting diode
incidence
reflection
Light at less than
—Specially designed jacket
critical angle is
—Small size and weight
absorbed in jacket
(c) Optical fiber
Figure 4.2
Guided Transmission Media
4.1 / GUIDED TRANSMISSION MEDIA
107
Typically, a number of these pairs are bundled together into a cable by wrapping
them in a tough protective sheath. Over longer distances, cables may contain
hundreds of pairs. The twisting tends to decrease the crosstalk interference between
adjacent pairs in a cable. Neighboring pairs in a bundle typically have somewhat dif-
ferent twist lengths to reduce the crosstalk interference. On long-distance links, the
twist length typically varies from 5 to 15 cm. The wires in a pair have thicknesses of
from 0.4 to 0.9 mm.
Applications By far the most common guided transmission medium for both ana-
log and digital signals is twisted pair. It is the most commonly used medium in the
telephone network and is the workhorse for communications within buildings.
In the telephone system, individual residential telephone sets are connected to
the local telephone exchange, or “end office,” by twisted-pair wire. These are
referred to as subscriber loops. Within an office building, each telephone is also con-
nected to a twisted pair, which goes to the in-house private branch exchange (PBX)
system or to a Centrex facility at the end office. These twisted-pair installations were
designed to support voice traffic using analog signaling. However, by means of a
modem, these facilities can handle digital data traffic at modest data rates.
Twisted pair is also the most common medium used for digital signaling. For
connections to a digital data switch or digital PBX within a building, a data rate of
64 kbps is common. Twisted pair is also commonly used within a building for local
area networks supporting personal computers. Data rates for such products are typ-
ically in the neighborhood of 100 Mbps. However, twisted-pair networks with data
rates of to 10 Gbps have been developed, although these are quite limited in terms
of the number of devices and geographic scope of the network. For long-distance
applications, twisted pair can be used at data rates of 4 Mbps or more.
Twisted pair is much less expensive than the other commonly used guided
transmission media (coaxial cable, optical fiber) and is easier to work with.
Transmission Characteristics Twisted pair may be used to transmit both ana-
log and digital transmission. For analog signals, amplifiers are required about every
5 to 6 km. For digital transmission (using either analog or digital signals), repeaters
are required every 2 or 3 km.
Compared to other commonly used guided transmission media (coaxial
cable, optical fiber), twisted pair is limited in distance, bandwidth, and data rate.As
Figure 4.3a shows, the attenuation for twisted pair is a very strong function of fre-
quency. Other impairments are also severe for twisted pair. The medium is quite
susceptible to interference and noise because of its easy coupling with electromag-
netic fields. For example, a wire run parallel to an ac power line will pick up 60-Hz
energy. Impulse noise also easily intrudes into twisted pair. Several measures are
taken to reduce impairments. Shielding the wire with metallic braid or sheathing
reduces interference. The twisting of the wire reduces low-frequency interference,
and the use of different twist lengths in adjacent pairs reduces crosstalk.
For point-to-point analog signaling, a bandwidth of up to about 1 MHz is pos-
sible. This accommodates a number of voice channels. For long-distance digital
point-to-point signaling, data rates of up to a few Mbps are possible; for very short
distances, data rates of up to 10 Gbps have been achieved in commercially available
products.
30
3.0
25
26-AWG (0.4 mm)
2.5
24-AWG (0.5 mm)
22-AWG (0.6 mm)
20
2.0
19-AWG (0.9 mm)
15
1.5
10
1.0
5
0.5
0
0
102
103
104
105
106
107
800
900
1000
1100
1200
1300
1400
1500
1600
1700
Frequency (Hz)
Wavelength in vacuum (nm)
(a) Twisted pair (based on [REEV95])
(c) Optical fiber (based on [FREE02])
30
30
25
25
0.5 mm
twisted pair
20
20
3/8" cable
(9.5 mm)
15
15
9.5
mm
coax
10
10
typical optical
fiber
5
5
0
0
105
106
107
108
103
106
109
1012
1015
1 kHz
1 MHz
1 GHz
1 THz
Frequency (Hz)
Frequency (Hz)
(b) Coaxial cable (based on [BELL90])
(d) Composite graph
Figure 4.3
Attenuation of Typical Guided Media
4.1 / GUIDED TRANSMISSION MEDIA
109
Unshielded and Shielded Twisted Pair Twisted pair comes in two varieties:
unshielded and shielded. Unshielded twisted pair (UTP) is ordinary telephone wire.
Office buildings, by universal practice, are prewired with excess unshielded twisted
pair, more than is needed for simple telephone support. This is the least expensive of
all the transmission media commonly used for local area networks and is easy to
work with and easy to install.
Unshielded twisted pair is subject to external electromagnetic interference,
including interference from nearby twisted pair and from noise generated in the envi-
ronment. A way to improve the characteristics of this medium is to shield the twisted
pair with a metallic braid or sheathing that reduces interference. This shielded twisted
pair (STP) provides better performance at higher data rates. However, it is more
expensive and more difficult to work with than unshielded twisted pair.
Category 3 and Category 5 UTP Most office buildings are prewired with a
type of 100-ohm twisted pair cable commonly referred to as voice grade. Because
voice-grade twisted pair is already installed, it is an attractive alternative for use as a
LAN medium. Unfortunately, the data rates and distances achievable with voice-
grade twisted pair are limited.
In 1991, the Electronic Industries Association published standard EIA-568,
Commercial Building Telecommunications Cabling Standard, which specifies the use
of voice-grade unshielded twisted pair as well as shielded twisted pair for in-building
data applications. At that time, the specification was felt to be adequate for the range
of frequencies and data rates found in office environments. Up to that time, the prin-
cipal interest for LAN designs was in the range of data rates from 1 Mbps to 16 Mbps.
Subsequently, as users migrated to higher-performance workstations and applica-
tions, there was increasing interest in providing LANs that could operate up to
100 Mbps over inexpensive cable. In response to this need, EIA-568-A was issued in
1995. The new standard reflects advances in cable and connector design and test meth-
ods. It covers 150-ohm shielded twisted pair and 100-ohm unshielded twisted pair.
EIA-568-A recognizes three categories of UTP cabling:
• Category 3: UTP cables and associated connecting hardware whose transmis-
sion characteristics are specified up to 16 MHz
• Category 4: UTP cables and associated connecting hardware whose transmis-
sion characteristics are specified up to 20 MHz
• Category 5: UTP cables and associated connecting hardware whose transmis-
sion characteristics are specified up to 100 MHz
Of these, it is Category 3 and Category 5 cable that have received the most
attention for LAN applications. Category 3 corresponds to the voice-grade cable
found in abundance in most office buildings. Over limited distances, and with proper
design, data rates of up to 16 Mbps should be achievable with Category 3. Category
5 is a data-grade cable that is becoming standard for preinstallation in new office
buildings. Over limited distances, and with proper design, data rates of up to
100 Mbps are achievable with Category 5.
A key difference between Category 3 and Category 5 cable is the number of
twists in the cable per unit distance. Category 5 is much more tightly twisted, with a
typical twist length of 0.6 to 0.85 cm, compared to 7.5 to 10 cm for Category 3. The
110
CHAPTER 4 / TRANSMISSION MEDIA
Table 4.2
Comparison of Shielded and Unshielded Twisted Pair
Attenuation (dB per 100 m)
Near-End Crosstalk (dB)
Frequency
Category 3
Category 5
150-ohm
Category 3
Category 5
(MHz)
UTP
UTP
STP
UTP
UTP
150-ohm STP
1
2.6
2.0
1.1
41
62
58
4
5.6
4.1
2.2
32
53
58
16
13.1
8.2
4.4
23
44
50.4
25
—
10.4
6.2
—
41
47.5
100
—
22.0
12.3
—
32
38.5
300
—
—
21.4
—
—
31.3
tighter twisting of Category 5 is more expensive but provides much better perform-
ance than Category 3.
Table 4.2 summarizes the performance of Category 3 and 5 UTP, as well as the
STP specified in EIA-568-A. The first parameter used for comparison, attenuation,
is fairly straightforward. The strength of a signal falls off with distance over any
transmission medium. For guided media attenuation is generally exponential and
therefore is typically expressed as a constant number of decibels per unit distance.
Near-end crosstalk as it applies to twisted pair wiring systems is the coupling
of the signal from one pair of conductors to another pair. These conductors may be
the metal pins in a connector or wire pairs in a cable. The near end refers to coupling
that takes place when the transmit signal entering the link couples back to the
receive conductor pair at that same end of the link (i.e., the near transmitted signal
is picked up by the near receive pair).
Since the publication of EIA-568-A, there has been ongoing work on the
development of standards for premises cabling, driven by two issues. First, the
Gigabit Ethernet specification requires the definition of parameters that are not
specified completely in any published cabling standard. Second, there is a desire
to specify cabling performance to higher levels, namely Enhanced Category 5
(Cat 5E), Category 6, and Category 7. Tables 4.3 and 4.4 summarize these new
cabling schemes and compare them to the existing standards.
Table 4.3
Twisted Pair Categories and Classes
Category 3
Category 5
Category 5E
Category 6
Category 7
Class C
Class D
Class E
Class F
Bandwidth
16 MHz
100 MHz
100 MHz
200 MHz
600 MHz
Cable Type
UTP
UTP/FTP
UTP/FTP
UTP/FTP
SSTP
Link Cost
0.7
1
1.2
1.5
2.2
1Cat 5
12
UTP = Unshielded twisted pair
FTP = Foil twisted pair
SSTP = Shielded screen twisted pair
4.1 / GUIDED TRANSMISSION MEDIA
111
Table 4.4
High-Performance LAN Copper Cabling Alternatives [JOHN98]
Name
Construction
Expected Performance
Cost
Cable consists of 4 pairs of 24 AWG
Mixed and matched cables and
(0.50 mm) copper with thermoplastic
connecting hardware from various
Category 5
polyolefin or fluorinated ethylene
manufacturers that have a reasonable
1
UTP
propylene (FEP) jacket. Outside sheath
chance of meeting TIA Cat 5 Channel
consists of polyvinylchlorides (PVC), a
and ISO Class D requirements. No
fire retardant polyolefin or fluoropolymers.
manufacturer’s warranty is involved.
Cable consists of 4 pairs of 24 AWG
Category 5 components from one
(0.50 mm) copper with thermoplastic
supplier or from multiple suppliers
polyolefin or fluorinated ethylene
where components have been
Enhanced Cat 5
propylene (FEP) jacket. Outside sheath
deliberately matched for improved
1.2
UTP (Cat 5E)
consists of polyvinylchlorides (PVC), a fire
impedance and balance. Offers ACR
retardant polyolefin or fluoropolymers.
performance in excess of Cat 5
Higher care taken in design and
Channel and Class D as well as a
manufacturing.
10-year or greater warranty.
Cable consists of 4 pairs of 0.50 to 0.53 mm
Category 6 components from one
copper with thermoplastic polyolefin or
supplier that are extremely well
fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) jacket.
matched. Channel zero ACR point
Category 6
Outside sheath consists of polyvinylchlorides
(effective bandwidth) is guaranteed
UTP
(PVC), a fire retardant polyolefin or
to 200 MHz or beyond. Best available
1.5
fluoropolymers. Extremely high care taken
UTP. Performance specifications
in design and manufacturing. Advanced
for Category 6 UTP to 250 MHz
connector designs.
are under development.
Cable consists of 4 pairs of 24 AWG
Category 5 components from one
(0.50 mm) copper with thermoplastic
supplier or from multiple suppliers
polyolefin or fluorinated ethylene propylene
where components have been
Foil Twisted
(FEP) jacket. Pairs are surrounded by a
deliberately designed to minimize
1.3
Pair
common metallic foil shield. Outside sheath
EMI susceptibility and maximize
consists of polyvinylchlorides (PVC), a fire-
EMI immunity. Various grades may
retardant polyolefin or fluoropolymers.
offer increased ACR performance.
Cable consists of 4 pairs of 24 AWG
Category 5 components from one
(0.50 mm) copper with thermoplastic
supplier or from multiple suppliers
polyolefin or fluorinated ethylene
where components have been
propylene (FEP) jacket. Pairs are
deliberately designed to minimize
Shielded Foil
surrounded by a common metallic foil
EMI susceptibility and maximize EMI
1.4
Twisted Pair
shield, followed by a braided metallic
immunity. Offers superior EMI
shield. Outside sheath consists of
protection to FTP.
polyvinylchlorides (PVC), a fire retardant
polyolefin, or fluoropolymers
Also called PiMF (for Pairs in Metal Foil),
Category 7 cabling provides positive
SSTP of 4 pairs of 22-23AWG copper with a
ACR to 600 to 1200 MHz. Shielding
thermoplastic polyolefin or fluorinated
on the individual pairs gives it
Category 7
ethylenepropylene (FEP) jacket. Pairs are
phenomenal ACR.
Shielded-Screen
individually surrounded by a helical or
2.2
Twisted Pair
longitudinal metallic foil shield, followed by
a braided metallic shield. Outside sheath of
polyvinylchlorides (PVC), a fire-retardant
polyolefin, or fluoropolymers.
ACR = Attenuation to crosstalk ratio
EMI = Electromagnetic interference
112
CHAPTER 4 / TRANSMISSION MEDIA
Coaxial Cable
Physical Description Coaxial cable, like twisted pair, consists of two conduc-
tors, but is constructed differently to permit it to operate over a wider range of fre-
quencies. It consists of a hollow outer cylindrical conductor that surrounds a single
inner wire conductor (Figure 4.2b). The inner conductor is held in place by either
regularly spaced insulating rings or a solid dielectric material. The outer conductor
is covered with a jacket or shield. A single coaxial cable has a diameter of from 1 to
2.5 cm. Coaxial cable can be used over longer distances and support more stations
on a shared line than twisted pair.
Applications Coaxial cable is a versatile transmission medium, used in a wide
variety of applications. The most important of these are
• Television distribution
• Long-distance telephone transmission
• Short-run computer system links
• Local area networks
Coaxial cable is widely used as a means of distributing TV signals to individual
homes—cable TV. From its modest beginnings as Community Antenna Television
(CATV), designed to provide service to remote areas, cable TV reaches almost as
many homes and offices as the telephone. A cable TV system can carry dozens or
even hundreds of TV channels at ranges up to a few tens of kilometers.
Coaxial cable has traditionally been an important part of the long-distance
telephone network. Today, it faces increasing competition from optical fiber, terres-
trial microwave, and satellite. Using frequency division multiplexing (FDM, see
Chapter 8), a coaxial cable can carry over 10,000 voice channels simultaneously.
Coaxial cable is also commonly used for short-range connections between
devices. Using digital signaling, coaxial cable can be used to provide high-speed I/O
channels on computer systems.
Transmission Characteristics Coaxial cable is used to transmit both analog
and digital signals. As can be seen from Figure 4.3b, coaxial cable has frequency
characteristics that are superior to those of twisted pair and can hence be used effec-
tively at higher frequencies and data rates. Because of its shielded, concentric con-
struction, coaxial cable is much less susceptible to interference and crosstalk than
twisted pair. The principal constraints on performance are attenuation, thermal
noise, and intermodulation noise. The latter is present only when several channels
(FDM) or frequency bands are in use on the cable.
For long-distance transmission of analog signals, amplifiers are needed every few
kilometers, with closer spacing required if higher frequencies are used.The usable spec-
trum for analog signaling extends to about 500 MHz. For digital signaling, repeaters are
needed every kilometer or so, with closer spacing needed for higher data rates.
Optical Fiber
Physical Description An optical fiber is a thin (2 to
125 mm), flexible medium
capable of guiding an optical ray. Various glasses and plastics can be used to make
4.1 / GUIDED TRANSMISSION MEDIA
113
optical fibers. The lowest losses have been obtained using fibers of ultrapure fused
silica. Ultrapure fiber is difficult to manufacture; higher-loss multicomponent glass
fibers are more economical and still provide good performance. Plastic fiber is even
less costly and can be used for short-haul links, for which moderately high losses are
acceptable.
An optical fiber cable has a cylindrical shape and consists of three concentric
sections: the core, the cladding, and the jacket (Figure 4.2c). The core is the inner-
most section and consists of one or more very thin strands, or fibers, made of glass or
plastic; the core has a diameter in the range of 8 to
Each fiber is surrounded
50 mm.
by its own cladding, a glass or plastic coating that has optical properties different
from those of the core and a diameter of
The interface between the core
125 mm.
and cladding acts as a reflector to confine light that would otherwise escape the
core. The outermost layer, surrounding one or a bundle of cladded fibers, is the
jacket. The jacket is composed of plastic and other material layered to protect
against moisture, abrasion, crushing, and other environmental dangers.
Applications Optical fiber already enjoys considerable use in long-distance
telecommunications, and its use in military applications is growing. The continuing
improvements in performance and decline in prices, together with the inherent
advantages of optical fiber, have made it increasingly attractive for local area net-
working. The following characteristics distinguish optical fiber from twisted pair or
coaxial cable:
•
Greater capacity: The potential bandwidth, and hence data rate, of optical
fiber is immense; data rates of hundreds of Gbps over tens of kilometers have
been demonstrated. Compare this to the practical maximum of hundreds of
Mbps over about 1 km for coaxial cable and just a few Mbps over 1 km or up
to 100 Mbps to 10 Gbps over a few tens of meters for twisted pair.
•
Smaller size and lighter weight: Optical fibers are considerably thinner than
coaxial cable or bundled twisted-pair cable—at least an order of magnitude
thinner for comparable information transmission capacity. For cramped con-
duits in buildings and underground along public rights-of-way, the advantage
of small size is considerable. The corresponding reduction in weight reduces
structural support requirements.
•
Lower attenuation: Attenuation is significantly lower for optical fiber than for
coaxial cable or twisted pair (Figure 4.3c) and is constant over a wide range.
•
Electromagnetic isolation: Optical fiber systems are not affected by external
electromagnetic fields. Thus the system is not vulnerable to interference,
impulse noise, or crosstalk. By the same token, fibers do not radiate energy, so
there is little interference with other equipment and there is a high degree of
security from eavesdropping. In addition, fiber is inherently difficult to tap.
•
Greater repeater spacing: Fewer repeaters mean lower cost and fewer sources
of error. The performance of optical fiber systems from this point of view has
been steadily improving. Repeater spacing in the tens of kilometers for optical
fiber is common, and repeater spacings of hundreds of kilometers have been
demonstrated. Coaxial and twisted-pair systems generally have repeaters
every few kilometers.
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CHAPTER 4 / TRANSMISSION MEDIA
Five basic categories of application have become important for optical fiber:
• Long-haul trunks
• Metropolitan trunks
• Rural exchange trunks
• Subscriber loops
• Local area networks
Long-haul fiber transmission is becoming increasingly common in the tele-
phone network. Long-haul routes average about 1500 km in length and offer high
capacity (typically 20,000 to 60,000 voice channels). These systems compete econom-
ically with microwave and have so underpriced coaxial cable in many developed
countries that coaxial cable is rapidly being phased out of the telephone network in
such countries. Undersea optical fiber cables have also enjoyed increasing use.
Metropolitan trunking circuits have an average length of 12 km and may have as
many as 100,000 voice channels in a trunk group. Most facilities are installed in under-
ground conduits and are repeaterless, joining telephone exchanges in a metropolitan or
city area. Included in this category are routes that link long-haul microwave facilities
that terminate at a city perimeter to the main telephone exchange building downtown.
Rural exchange trunks have circuit lengths ranging from 40 to 160 km and link
towns and villages. In the United States, they often connect the exchanges of differ-
ent telephone companies. Most of these systems have fewer than 5000 voice chan-
nels. The technology used in these applications competes with microwave facilities.
Subscriber loop circuits are fibers that run directly from the central exchange
to a subscriber. These facilities are beginning to displace twisted pair and coaxial
cable links as the telephone networks evolve into full-service networks capable of
handling not only voice and data, but also image and video. The initial penetration
of optical fiber in this application is for the business subscriber, but fiber transmis-
sion into the home will soon begin to appear.
A final important application of optical fiber is for local area networks. Stan-
dards have been developed and products introduced for optical fiber networks that
have a total capacity of 100 Mbps to 10 Gbps and can support hundreds or even
thousands of stations in a large office building or a complex of buildings.
The advantages of optical fiber over twisted pair and coaxial cable become
more compelling as the demand for all types of information (voice, data, image,
video) increases.
Transmission Characteristics Optical fiber transmits a signal-encoded beam
of light by means of total internal reflection. Total internal reflection can occur in
any transparent medium that has a higher index of refraction than the surrounding
medium. In effect, the optical fiber acts as a waveguide for frequencies in the range
of about
to
Hertz; this covers portions of the infrared and visible spectra.
1014
1015
Figure 4.4 shows the principle of optical fiber transmission. Light from a source
enters the cylindrical glass or plastic core. Rays at shallow angles are reflected and
propagated along the fiber; other rays are absorbed by the surrounding material. This
form of propagation is called step-index multimode, referring to the variety of angles
that will reflect. With multimode transmission, multiple propagation paths exist, each
4.1 / GUIDED TRANSMISSION MEDIA
115
Input pulse
Output pulse
(a) Step-index multimode
Input pulse
Output pulse
(b) Graded-index multimode
Input pulse
Output pulse
(c) Single mode
Figure 4.4
Optical Fiber Transmission Modes
with a different path length and hence time to traverse the fiber. This causes signal ele-
ments (light pulses) to spread out in time, which limits the rate at which data can be
accurately received. Put another way, the need to leave spacing between the pulses lim-
its data rate. This type of fiber is best suited for transmission over very short distances.
When the fiber core radius is reduced, fewer angles will reflect. By reducing the radius
of the core to the order of a wavelength, only a single angle or mode can pass: the axial
ray. This single-mode propagation provides superior performance for the following
reason. Because there is a single transmission path with single-mode transmission, the
distortion found in multimode cannot occur. Single-mode is typically used for long-
distance applications, including telephone and cable television. Finally, by varying the
index of refraction of the core, a third type of transmission, known as graded-index
multimode, is possible. This type is intermediate between the other two in characteris-
tics. The higher refractive index (discussed subsequently) at the center makes the light
rays moving down the axis advance more slowly than those near the cladding. Rather
than zig-zagging off the cladding, light in the core curves helically because of the
graded index, reducing its travel distance. The shortened path and higher speed allows
light at the periphery to arrive at a receiver at about the same time as the straight rays
in the core axis. Graded-index fibers are often used in local area networks.
Two different types of light source are used in fiber optic systems: the light-
emitting diode (LED) and the injection laser diode (ILD). Both are semiconductor
devices that emit a beam of light when a voltage is applied.The LED is less costly, oper-
ates over a greater temperature range, and has a longer operational life.The ILD, which
operates on the laser principle, is more efficient and can sustain greater data rates.
There is a relationship among the wavelength employed, the type of transmission,
and the achievable data rate. Both single mode and multimode can support several dif-
ferent wavelengths of light and can employ laser or LED light sources. In optical fiber,
based on the attenuation characteristics of the medium and on properties of light
sources and receivers, four transmission windows are appropriate, shown in Table 4.5.
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CHAPTER 4 / TRANSMISSION MEDIA
Table 4.5
Frequency Utilization for Fiber Applications
Wavelength
Frequency Range
Band Label
Fiber Type
Application
(in vacuum) Range (nm)
(THz)
820 to 900
366 to 333
Multimode
LAN
1280 to 1350
234 to 222
S
Single mode
Various
1528 to 1561
196 to 192
C
Single mode
WDM
1561 to 1620
192 to 185
L
Single mode
WDM
WDM = wavelength division multiplexing (see Chapter 8)
Note the tremendous bandwidths available. For the four windows, the respec-
tive bandwidths are 33 THz, 12 THz, 4 THz, and 7 THz.1 This is several orders of
magnitude greater than the bandwidth available in the radio-frequency spectrum.
One confusing aspect of reported attenuation figures for fiber optic transmis-
sion is that, invariably, fiber optic performance is specified in terms of wavelength
rather than frequency. The wavelengths that appear in graphs and tables are the
wavelengths corresponding to transmission in a vacuum. However, on the fiber, the
velocity of propagation is less than the speed of light in a vacuum (c); the result is
that although the frequency of the signal is unchanged, the wavelength is changed.
EXAMPLE 4.1 For a wavelength in vacuum of 1550 nm, the corresponding
frequency is
f = c/l = 13 * 1082/11550 * 10-92 = 193.4 * 1012 = 193.4 THz.
For a typical single mode fiber, the velocity of propagation is approximately
v = 2.04 * 108. In this case, a frequency of 193.4 THz corresponds to a wave-
length of
Therefore, on this
l = v/f = 12.04 * 1082/1193.4 * 10122 = 1055 nm.
fiber, when a wavelength of 1550 nm is cited, the actual wavelength on the fiber
is 1055 nm.
The four transmission windows are in the infrared portion of the frequency spec-
trum, below the visible-light portion, which is 400 to 700 nm. The loss is lower at higher
wavelengths, allowing greater data rates over longer distances. Many local applications
today use 850-nm LED light sources. Although this combination is relatively inexpen-
sive, it is generally limited to data rates under 100 Mbps and distances of a few kilome-
ters. To achieve higher data rates and longer distances, a 1300-nm LED or laser source
is needed. The highest data rates and longest distances require 1500-nm laser sources.
Figure 4.3c shows attenuation versus wavelength for a typical optical fiber. The
unusual shape of the curve is due to the combination of a variety of factors that con-
tribute to attenuation. The two most important of these are absorption and scatter-
ing. In this context, the term scattering refers to the change in direction of light rays
after they strike small particles or impurities in the medium.
1
1 THz = 1012 Hz.
For a definition of numerical prefixes in common use, see the supporting document at
WilliamStallings.com.
4.2 / WIRELESS TRANSMISSION
117
4.2
WIRELESS TRANSMISSION
Three general ranges of frequencies are of interest in our discussion of wireless trans-
mission. Frequencies in the range of about 1 GHz
to 40 GHz
1gigahertz = 109 Hertz2
are referred to as microwave frequencies.At these frequencies, highly directional beams
are possible, and microwave is quite suitable for point-to-point transmission. Microwave
is also used for satellite communications. Frequencies in the range of 30 MHz to 1 GHz
are suitable for omnidirectional applications. We refer to this range as the radio range.
Another important frequency range, for local applications, is the infrared por-
11
tion of the spectrum. This covers, roughly, from
to
Infrared is
3 * 10
2 * 1014
Hz.
useful to local point-to-point and multipoint applications within confined areas,
such as a single room.
For unguided media, transmission and reception are achieved by means of an
antenna. Before looking at specific categories of wireless transmission, we provide a
brief introduction to antennas.
Antennas
An antenna can be defined as an electrical conductor or system of conductors used
either for radiating electromagnetic energy or for collecting electromagnetic energy.
For transmission of a signal, radio-frequency electrical energy from the transmitter
is converted into electromagnetic energy by the antenna and radiated into the sur-
rounding environment (atmosphere, space, water). For reception of a signal, electro-
magnetic energy impinging on the antenna is converted into radio-frequency
electrical energy and fed into the receiver.
In two-way communication, the same antenna can be and often is used for
both transmission and reception. This is possible because any antenna transfers
energy from the surrounding environment to its input receiver terminals with the
same efficiency that it transfers energy from the output transmitter terminals into
the surrounding environment, assuming that the same frequency is used in both
directions. Put another way, antenna characteristics are essentially the same whether
an antenna is sending or receiving electromagnetic energy.
An antenna will radiate power in all directions but, typically, does not perform
equally well in all directions. A common way to characterize the performance of an
antenna is the radiation pattern, which is a graphical representation of the radiation
properties of an antenna as a function of space coordinates. The simplest pattern is
produced by an idealized antenna known as the isotropic antenna. An isotropic
antenna is a point in space that radiates power in all directions equally. The actual
radiation pattern for the isotropic antenna is a sphere with the antenna at the center.
Parabolic Reflective Antenna An important type of antenna is the parabolic
reflective antenna, which is used in terrestrial microwave and satellite applications.
A parabola is the locus of all points equidistant from a fixed line and a fixed point
not on the line. The fixed point is called the focus and the fixed line is called the
directrix (Figure 4.5a). If a parabola is revolved about its axis, the surface generated
is called a paraboloid. A cross section through the paraboloid parallel to its axis
forms a parabola and a cross section perpendicular to the axis forms a circle. Such
118
CHAPTER 4 / TRANSMISSION MEDIA
y
a
b
a
b
c
c
f
f
x
Focus
(a) Parabola
(b) Cross section of parabolic antenna
showing reflective property
Figure 4.5
Parabolic Reflective Antenna
surfaces are used in headlights, optical and radio telescopes, and microwave anten-
nas because of the following property: If a source of electromagnetic energy (or
sound) is placed at the focus of the paraboloid, and if the paraboloid is a reflecting
surface, then the wave will bounce back in lines parallel to the axis of the parabo-
loid; Figure 4.5b shows this effect in cross section. In theory, this effect creates a par-
allel beam without dispersion. In practice, there will be some dispersion, because the
source of energy must occupy more than one point. The larger the diameter of the
antenna, the more tightly directional is the beam. On reception, if incoming waves
are parallel to the axis of the reflecting paraboloid, the resulting signal will be con-
centrated at the focus.
Antenna Gain Antenna gain is a measure of the directionality of an antenna.
Antenna gain is defined as the power output, in a particular direction, compared to
that produced in any direction by a perfect omnidirectional antenna (isotropic
antenna). For example, if an antenna has a gain of 3 dB, that antenna improves upon
the isotropic antenna in that direction by 3 dB, or a factor of 2. The increased power
radiated in a given direction is at the expense of other directions. In effect, increased
power is radiated in one direction by reducing the power radiated in other
directions. It is important to note that antenna gain does not refer to obtaining more
output power than input power but rather to directionality.
A concept related to that of antenna gain is the effective area of an antenna.
The effective area of an antenna is related to the physical size of the antenna and to
its shape. The relationship between antenna gain and effective area is
4pAe
4pf2Ae
G =
=
(4.1)
l2
c2
4.2 / WIRELESS TRANSMISSION
119
where
G = antenna gain
Ae = effective area
f = carrier frequency
c = speed of light 1L 3 * 108 m/s2
l = carrier wavelength
For example, the effective area of an ideal isotropic antenna is
with a
l2/4p,
power gain of 1; the effective area of a parabolic antenna with a face area of A is
0.56A, with a power gain of 7A/l2.
EXAMPLE 4.2 For a parabolic reflective antenna with a diameter of 2 m,
operating at 12 GHz, what is the effective area and the antenna gain? We have
an area of
A = pr2 = p
and an effective area of
Ae
= 0.56p.
The wavelength is
l = c/f = 13 * 1082/112 * 1092 = 0.025 m. Then
G = 17A2/l2 = 17 * p2/10.02522 = 35,186
GdB = 45.46 dB
Terrestrial Microwave
Physical Description The most common type of microwave antenna is the par-
abolic “dish.” A typical size is about 3 m in diameter. The antenna is fixed rigidly and
focuses a narrow beam to achieve line-of-sight transmission to the receiving
antenna. Microwave antennas are usually located at substantial heights above
ground level to extend the range between antennas and to be able to transmit over
intervening obstacles. To achieve long-distance transmission, a series of microwave
relay towers is used, and point-to-point microwave links are strung together over
the desired distance.
Applications The primary use for terrestrial microwave systems is in long-haul
telecommunications service, as an alternative to coaxial cable or optical fiber. The
microwave facility requires far fewer amplifiers or repeaters than coaxial cable over
the same distance but requires line-of-sight transmission. Microwave is commonly
used for both voice and television transmission.
Another increasingly common use of microwave is for short point-to-point
links between buildings. This can be used for closed-circuit TV or as a data link
between local area networks. Short-haul microwave can also be used for the so-
called bypass application. A business can establish a microwave link to a long-
distance telecommunications facility in the same city, bypassing the local telephone
company.
Another important use of microwave is in cellular systems, examined in
Chapter 14.
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CHAPTER 4 / TRANSMISSION MEDIA
Table 4.6
Typical Digital Microwave Performance
Band (GHz)
Bandwidth (MHz)
Data Rate (Mbps)
2
7
12
6
30
90
11
40
135
18
220
274
Transmission Characteristics Microwave transmission covers a substantial
portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Common frequencies used for transmis-
sion are in the range 1 to 40 GHz. The higher the frequency used, the higher the
potential bandwidth and therefore the higher the potential data rate. Table 4.6
indicates bandwidth and data rate for some typical systems.
As with any transmission system, a main source of loss is attenuation. For
microwave (and radio frequencies), the loss can be expressed as
2
4pd
L = 10 loga
dB
(4.2)
l b
where d is the distance and l is the wavelength, in the same units. Thus, loss varies as
the square of the distance. In contrast, for twisted-pair and coaxial cable, loss varies
exponentially with distance (linear in decibels). Thus repeaters or amplifiers may be
placed farther apart for microwave systems—10 to 100 km is typical. Attenuation is
increased with rainfall. The effects of rainfall become especially noticeable above 10
GHz. Another source of impairment is interference. With the growing popularity of
microwave, transmission areas overlap and interference is always a danger. Thus the
assignment of frequency bands is strictly regulated.
The most common bands for long-haul telecommunications are the 4-GHz to
6-GHz bands. With increasing congestion at these frequencies, the 11-GHz band is
now coming into use. The 12-GHz band is used as a component of cable TV systems.
Microwave links are used to provide TV signals to local CATV installations; the
signals are then distributed to individual subscribers via coaxial cable. Higher-
frequency microwave is being used for short point-to-point links between buildings;
typically, the 22-GHz band is used. The higher microwave frequencies are less useful
for longer distances because of increased attenuation but are quite adequate for
shorter distances. In addition, at the higher frequencies, the antennas are smaller
and cheaper.
Satellite Microwave
Physical Description A communication satellite is, in effect, a microwave
relay station. It is used to link two or more ground-based microwave transmit-
ter/receivers, known as earth stations, or ground stations. The satellite receives
transmissions on one frequency band (uplink), amplifies or repeats the signal,
and transmits it on another frequency (downlink). A single orbiting satellite will
4.2 / WIRELESS TRANSMISSION
121
operate on a number of frequency bands, called transponder channels, or simply
transponders.
Figure 4.6 depicts in a general way two common configurations for satellite
communication. In the first, the satellite is being used to provide a point-to-point
link between two distant ground-based antennas. In the second, the satellite pro-
vides communications between one ground-based transmitter and a number of
ground-based receivers.
For a communication satellite to function effectively, it is generally required
that it remain stationary with respect to its position over the earth. Otherwise, it
would not be within the line of sight of its earth stations at all times. To remain sta-
tionary, the satellite must have a period of rotation equal to the earth’s period of
rotation. This match occurs at a height of 35,863 km at the equator.
Satellite
antenna
Earth
station
(a) Point-to-point link
Satellite
antenna
Multiple
Multiple
receivers
receivers
Transmitter
(b) Broadcast link
Figure 4.6
Satellite Communication Configurations
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CHAPTER 4 / TRANSMISSION MEDIA
Two satellites using the same frequency band, if close enough together, will
interfere with each other. To avoid this, current standards require a 4° spacing
(angular displacement as measured from the earth) in the 4/6-GHz band and a 3°
spacing at 12/14 GHz. Thus the number of possible satellites is quite limited.
Applications The following are among the most important applications for satellites:
• Television distribution
• Long-distance telephone transmission
• Private business networks
• Global positioning
Because of their broadcast nature, satellites are well suited to television distri-
bution and are being used extensively in the United States and throughout the
world for this purpose. In its traditional use, a network provides programming from
a central location. Programs are transmitted to the satellite and then broadcast
down to a number of stations, which then distribute the programs to individual
viewers. One network, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), distributes its tele-
vision programming almost exclusively by the use of satellite channels. Other com-
mercial networks also make substantial use of satellite, and cable television systems
are receiving an ever-increasing proportion of their programming from satellites.
The most recent application of satellite technology to television distribution is
direct broadcast satellite (DBS), in which satellite video signals are transmitted
directly to the home user. The decreasing cost and size of receiving antennas have
made DBS economically feasible.
Satellite transmission is also used for point-to-point trunks between telephone
exchange offices in public telephone networks. It is the optimum medium for high-
usage international trunks and is competitive with terrestrial systems for many long-
distance intranational links.
There are a number of business data applications for satellite. The satellite
provider can divide the total capacity into a number of channels and lease these
channels to individual business users. A user equipped with the antennas at a num-
ber of sites can use a satellite channel for a private network. Traditionally, such
applications have been quite expensive and limited to larger organizations with
high-volume requirements. A recent development is the very small aperture termi-
nal (VSAT) system, which provides a low-cost alternative. Figure 4.7 depicts a typi-
cal VSAT configuration. A number of subscriber stations are equipped with
low-cost VSAT antennas. Using some discipline, these stations share a satellite
transmission capacity for transmission to a hub station. The hub station can
exchange messages with each of the subscribers and can relay messages between
subscribers.
A final application of satellites, which has become pervasive, is worthy of note.
The Navstar Global Positioning System, or GPS for short, consists of three segments
or components:
• A constellation of satellites (currently 27) orbiting about 20,000 km above the
earth’s surface, which transmit ranging signals on two frequencies in the
microwave part of the radio spectrum
4.2 / WIRELESS TRANSMISSION
123
Ku-band
satellite
Remote
site
Server
Hub
Remote
site
PCs
Remote
site
Point-of-sale
terminals
Figure 4.7
Typical VSAT Configuration
• A control segment which maintains GPS through a system of ground monitor
stations and satellite upload facilities
• The user receivers—both civil and military
Each satellite transmits a unique digital code sequence of 1s and 0s, precisely
timed by an atomic clock, which is picked up by a GPS receiver’s antenna and
matched with the same code sequence generated inside the receiver. By lining up or
matching the signals, the receiver determines how long it takes the signals to travel
from the satellite to the receiver. These timing measurements are converted to dis-
tances using the speed of light. Measuring distances to four or more satellites simul-
taneously and knowing the exact locations of the satellites (included in the signals
transmitted by the satellites), the receiver can determine its latitude, longitude, and
height while at the same time synchronizing its clock with the GPS time standard
which also makes the receiver a precise time piece.
Transmission Characteristics The optimum frequency range for satellite
transmission is in the range 1 to 10 GHz. Below 1 GHz, there is significant noise
from natural sources, including galactic, solar, and atmospheric noise, and human-
made interference from various electronic devices. Above 10 GHz, the signal is
severely attenuated by atmospheric absorption and precipitation.
Most satellites providing point-to-point service today use a frequency band-
width in the range 5.925 to 6.425 GHz for transmission from earth to satellite
(uplink) and a bandwidth in the range 3.7 to 4.2 GHz for transmission from satellite
to earth (downlink). This combination is referred to as the 4/6-GHz band. Note
that the uplink and downlink frequencies differ. For continuous operation without
interference, a satellite cannot transmit and receive on the same frequency. Thus
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CHAPTER 4 / TRANSMISSION MEDIA
signals received from a ground station on one frequency must be transmitted back
on another.
The 4/6 GHz band is within the optimum zone of 1 to 10 GHz but has become
saturated. Other frequencies in that range are unavailable because of sources of
interference operating at those frequencies, usually terrestrial microwave. There-
fore, the 12/14-GHz band has been developed (uplink: 14 to 14.5 GHz; downlink:
11.7 to 12.2 GHz). At this frequency band, attenuation problems must be overcome.
However, smaller and cheaper earth-station receivers can be used. It is anticipated
that this band will also saturate, and use is projected for the 20/30-GHz band
(uplink: 27.5 to 30.0 GHz; downlink: 17.7 to 20.2 GHz). This band experiences even
greater attenuation problems but will allow greater bandwidth (2500 MHz versus
500 MHz) and even smaller and cheaper receivers.
Several properties of satellite communication should be noted. First, because
of the long distances involved, there is a propagation delay of about a quarter sec-
ond from transmission from one earth station to reception by another earth station.
This delay is noticeable in ordinary telephone conversations. It also introduces
problems in the areas of error control and flow control, which we discuss in later
chapters. Second, satellite microwave is inherently a broadcast facility. Many sta-
tions can transmit to the satellite, and a transmission from a satellite can be received
by many stations.
Broadcast Radio
Physical Description The principal difference between broadcast radio and
microwave is that the former is omnidirectional and the latter is directional. Thus
broadcast radio does not require dish-shaped antennas, and the antennas need not
be rigidly mounted to a precise alignment.
Applications Radio is a general term used to encompass frequencies in the range
of 3 kHz to 300 GHz. We are using the informal term broadcast radio to cover the
VHF and part of the UHF band: 30 MHz to 1 GHz. This range covers FM radio and
UHF and VHF television. This range is also used for a number of data networking
applications.
Transmission Characteristics The range 30 MHz to 1 GHz is an effective one
for broadcast communications. Unlike the case for lower-frequency electromagnetic
waves, the ionosphere is transparent to radio waves above 30 MHz. Thus transmis-
sion is limited to the line of sight, and distant transmitters will not interfere with
each other due to reflection from the atmosphere. Unlike the higher frequencies of
the microwave region, broadcast radio waves are less sensitive to attenuation from
rainfall.
As with microwave, the amount of attenuation due to distance obeys Equation
(4.2), namely
Because of the longer wavelength, radio waves suffer
10 log14pd
l 22 dB.
relatively less attenuation.
A prime source of impairment for broadcast radio waves is multipath interfer-
ence. Reflection from land, water, and natural or human-made objects can create
multiple paths between antennas. This effect is frequently evident when TV recep-
tion displays multiple images as an airplane passes by.
4.3 / WIRELESS PROPAGATION
125
Infrared
Infrared communications is achieved using transmitters/receivers (transceivers)
that modulate noncoherent infrared light. Transceivers must be within the line of
sight of each other either directly or via reflection from a light-colored surface such
as the ceiling of a room.
One important difference between infrared and microwave transmission is
that the former does not penetrate walls. Thus the security and interference prob-
lems encountered in microwave systems are not present. Furthermore, there is no
frequency allocation issue with infrared, because no licensing is required.
4.3
WIRELESS PROPAGATION
A signal radiated from an antenna travels along one of three routes: ground wave,
sky wave, or line of sight (LOS). Table 4.7 shows in which frequency range each pre-
dominates. In this book, we are almost exclusively concerned with LOS communica-
tion, but a short overview of each mode is given in this section.
Ground Wave Propagation
Ground wave propagation (Figure 4.8a) more or less follows the contour of the earth
and can propagate considerable distances, well over the visual horizon. This effect is
found in frequencies up to about 2 MHz. Several factors account for the tendency of
electromagnetic wave in this frequency band to follow the earth’s curvature. One fac-
tor is that the electromagnetic wave induces a current in the earth’s surface, the result
of which is to slow the wavefront near the earth, causing the wavefront to tilt down-
ward and hence follow the earth’s curvature. Another factor is diffraction, which is a
phenomenon having to do with the behavior of electromagnetic waves in the pres-
ence of obstacles. Electromagnetic waves in this frequency range are scattered by the
atmosphere in such a way that they do not penetrate the upper atmosphere.
The best-known example of ground wave communication is AM radio.
Sky Wave Propagation
Sky wave propagation is used for amateur radio, CB radio, and international broad-
casts such as BBC and Voice of America. With sky wave propagation, a signal from
an earth-based antenna is reflected from the ionized layer of the upper atmosphere
(ionosphere) back down to earth. Although it appears the wave is reflected from the
ionosphere as if the ionosphere were a hard reflecting surface, the effect is in fact
caused by refraction. Refraction is described subsequently.
A sky wave signal can travel through a number of hops, bouncing back and
forth between the ionosphere and the earth’s surface (Figure 4.8b). With this propa-
gation mode, a signal can be picked up thousands of kilometers from the transmitter.
Line-of-Sight Propagation
Above 30 MHz, neither ground wave nor sky wave propagation modes operate, and
communication must be by line of sight (Figure 4.8c). For satellite communication, a
signal above 30 MHz is not reflected by the ionosphere and therefore a signal can be
Table 4.7
Frequency Bands
Band
Frequency Range
Free-Space
Propagation Characteristics
Typical Use
Wavelength Range
ELF (extremely low
30 to 300 Hz
10,000 to 1000 km
GW
Power line frequencies; used by some
frequency)
home control systems.
VF (voice frequency)
300 to 3000 Hz
1000 to 100 km
GW
Used by the telephone system for
analog subscriber lines.
VLF (very low frequency)
3 to 30 kHz
100 to 10 km
GW; low attenuation day and night;
Long-range navigation; submarine
high atmospheric noise level
communication
LF (low frequency)
30 to 300 kHz
10 to 1 km
GW; slightly less reliable than VLF;
Long-range navigation; marine
absorption in daytime
communication radio beacons
MF (medium frequency)
300 to 3000 kHz
1,000 to 100 m
GW and night SW; attenuation low at
Maritime radio; direction finding;
night, high in day; atmospheric noise
AM broadcasting.
HF (high frequency)
3 to 30 MHz
100 to 10 m
SW; quality varies with time of day,
Amateur radio; international
season, and frequency.
broadcasting, military communication;
long-distance aircraft and ship
communication
VHF (very high frequency)
30 to 300 MHz
10 to 1 m
LOS; scattering because of
VHF television; FM broadcast and
temperature inversion; cosmic noise
two-way radio, AM aircraft
communication; aircraft navigational
aids
UHF (ultra high frequency)
300 to 3000 MHz
100 to 10 cm
LOS; cosmic noise
UHF television; cellular telephone;
radar; microwave links; personal
communications systems
SHF (super high frequency)
3 to 30 GHz
10 to 1 cm
LOS; rainfall attenuation above
Satellite communication; radar;
10 GHz; atmospheric attenuation due
terrestrial microwave links; wireless
to oxygen and water vapor
local loop
EHF (extremely high
30 to 300 GHz
10 to 1 mm
LOS; atmospheric attenuation due to
Experimental; wireless local loop
frequency)
oxygen and water vapor
Infrared
300 GHz to 400 THz
1 mm to 770 nm
LOS
Infrared LANs; consumer electronic
applications
Visible light
400 THz to 900 THz
770 nm to 330 nm
LOS
Optical communication
4.3 / WIRELESS PROPAGATION
127
Signal
propagation
Transmit
Receive
antenna
Earth
antenna
(a) Ground wave propagation (below 2 MHz)
Transmit
Receive
antenna
Earth
antenna
(b) Sky wave propagation (2 to 30 MHz)
Signal
propagation
Transmit
Receive
Earth
antenna
antenna
(c) Line-of-sight (LOS) propagation (above 30 MHz)
Figure 4.8
Wireless Propagation Modes
transmitted between an earth station and a satellite overhead that is not beyond the
horizon. For ground-based communication, the transmitting and receiving antennas
must be within an effective line of sight of each other. The term effective is used
because microwaves are bent or refracted by the atmosphere. The amount and even
the direction of the bend depends on conditions, but generally microwaves are bent
with the curvature of the earth and will therefore propagate farther than the optical
line of sight.
128
CHAPTER 4 / TRANSMISSION MEDIA
Refraction Before proceeding, a brief discussion of refraction is warranted.
Refraction occurs because the velocity of an electromagnetic wave is a function of
the density of the medium through which it travels. In a vacuum, an electromagnetic
wave (such as light or a radio wave) travels at approximately
This is the
3 * 108 m/s.
constant, c, commonly referred to as the speed of light, but actually referring to the
speed of light in a vacuum.2 In air, water, glass, and other transparent or partially
transparent media, electromagnetic waves travel at speeds less than c.
When an electromagnetic wave moves from a medium of one density to a
medium of another density, its speed changes. The effect is to cause a one-time bend-
ing of the direction of the wave at the boundary between the two media. Moving from
a less dense to a more dense medium, the wave will bend toward the more dense
medium. This phenomenon is easily observed by partially immersing a stick in water.
The index of refraction, or refractive index, of one medium relative to another
is the sine of the angle of incidence divided by the sine of the angle of refraction. The
index of refraction is also equal to the ratio of the respective velocities in the two
media. The absolute index of refraction of a medium is calculated in comparison
with that of a vacuum. Refractive index varies with wavelength, so that refractive
effects differ for signals with different wavelengths.
Although an abrupt, one-time change in direction occurs as a signal moves
from one medium to another, a continuous, gradual bending of a signal will occur if
it is moving through a medium in which the index of refraction gradually changes.
Under normal propagation conditions, the refractive index of the atmosphere
decreases with height so that radio waves travel more slowly near the ground than
at higher altitudes. The result is a slight bending of the radio waves toward the earth.
Optical and Radio Line of Sight With no intervening obstacles, the optical
line of sight can be expressed as
d = 3.572h
where d is the distance between an antenna and the horizon in kilometers and h is
the antenna height in meters. The effective, or radio, line of sight to the horizon is
expressed as (Figure 4.9)
d = 3.572Kh
Radio horizon
Antenna
Optical horizon
Earth
Figure 4.9
Optical and Radio Horizons
2The exact value is 299,792,458 m/s.
4.4 / LINE-OF-SIGHT TRANSMISSION
129
where K is an adjustment factor to account for the refraction. A good rule of
thumb is
K = 4/3.
Thus, the maximum distance between two antennas for LOS
propagation is
where h and h are the heights of the two
1
2
3.57 A 2Kh1 + 2Kh2 B,
antennas.
EXAMPLE 4.3 The maximum distance between two antennas for LOS transmis-
sion if one antenna is 100 m high and the other is at ground level is
d = 3.572Kh = 3.572133 = 41 km
Now suppose that the receiving antenna is 10 m high. To achieve the same dis-
tance, how high must the transmitting antenna be? The result is
41 = 3.57 A 2Kh1 + 213.3 B
41
2Kh1 =
- 213.3 = 7.84
3.57
h1 = 7.842>1.33 = 46.2 m
This is a savings of over 50 m in the height of the transmitting antenna. This
example illustrates the benefit of raising receiving antennas above ground level
to reduce the necessary height of the transmitter.
4.4
LINE-OF-SIGHT TRANSMISSION
Section 3.3 discussed various transmission impairments common to both guided and
wireless transmission. In this section, we extend the discussion to examine some
impairments specific to wireless line-of-sight transmission.
Free Space Loss
For any type of wireless communication the signal disperses with distance. There-
fore, an antenna with a fixed area will receive less signal power the farther it is from
the transmitting antenna. For satellite communication this is the primary mode of
signal loss. Even if no other sources of attenuation or impairment are assumed, a
transmitted signal attenuates over distance because the signal is being spread over a
larger and larger area. This form of attenuation is known as free space loss, which
can be expressed in terms of the ratio of the radiated power P to the power
P
t
r
received by the antenna or, in decibels, by taking 10 times the log of that ratio. For
the ideal isotropic antenna, free space loss is
P
14pd22
14pfd22
t
=
=
2
P
r
l
c2
130
CHAPTER 4 / TRANSMISSION MEDIA
where
P
t
= signal power at the transmitting antenna
P
r
= signal power at the receiving antenna
l = carrier wavelength
d = propagation distance between antennas
c = speed of light 13 * 108 m/s2
where d and l are in the same units (e.g., meters).
This can be recast as3
P
t
LdB = 10 log
= 20 log a4pd
= -20 log1l2 + 20 log1d2 + 21.98 dB
P
r
l b
(4.3)
4pfd
= 20 log a
= 20 log1f2 + 20 log1d2 - 147.56 dB
c b
Figure 4.10 illustrates the free space loss equation.
For other antennas, we must take into account the gain of the antenna, which
yields the following free space loss equation:
P
t
14p221d22
1ld22
1cd22
=
=
=
2
P
ArAt
f2
ArAt
r
GrGtl
where
Gt = gain of the transmitting antenna
Gr = gain of the receiving antenna
At = effective area of the transmitting antenna
Ar = effective area of the receiving antenna
The third fraction is derived from the second fraction using the relationship
between antenna gain and effective area defined in Equation (4.1). We can recast
the loss equation as
LdB = 20 log1l2 + 20 log1d2 - 10 log1AtAr2
= -20 log1f2 + 20 log1d2 - 10 log1AtAr2 + 169.54 dB
(4.4)
Thus, for the same antenna dimensions and separation, the longer the carrier wave-
length (lower the carrier frequency f ), the higher is the free space path loss. It is
interesting to compare Equations (4.3) and (4.4). Equation (4.3) indicates that as
the frequency increases, the free space loss also increases, which would suggest that
at higher frequencies, losses become more burdensome. However, Equation (4.4)
shows that we can easily compensate for this increased loss with antenna gains. In
3As was mentioned in Appendix 3A, there is some inconsistency in the literature over the use of the
terms gain and loss. Equation (4.3) follows the convention of Equation (3.3).
4.4 / LINE-OF-SIGHT TRANSMISSION
131
180
170
160
150
140
130
120
110
100
90
80
70
601
5
10
50
100
Distance (km)
Figure 4.10
Free Space Loss
fact, there is a net gain at higher frequencies, other factors remaining constant.
Equation (4.3) shows that at a fixed distance an increase in frequency results in an
increased loss measured by 20 log(f ). However, if we take into account antenna gain
and fix antenna area, then the change in loss is measured by
- 20 log1f2;
that is,
there is actually a decrease in loss at higher frequencies.
EXAMPLE 4.4 Determine the isotropic free space loss at 4 GHz for the short-
est path to a synchronous satellite from earth (35,863 km). At 4 GHz, the wave-
length is
13 * 1082/14 * 1092 = 0.075 m.
Then
LdB = -20 log10.0752 + 20 log135.853 * 1062 + 21.98 = 195.6 dB
132
CHAPTER 4 / TRANSMISSION MEDIA
Now consider the antenna gain of both the satellite- and ground-based antennas.
Typical values are 44 dB and 48 dB, respectively. The free space loss is
LdB = 195.6 - 44 - 48 = 103.6 dB
Now assume a transmit power of 250 W at the earth station. What is the power
received at the satellite antenna? A power of 250 W translates into 24 dBW, so
the power at the receiving antenna is 24 - 103.6 = - 79.6 dBW.
Atmospheric Absorption
An additional loss between the transmitting and receiving antennas is atmo-
spheric absorption. Water vapor and oxygen contribute most to attenuation. A
peak attenuation occurs in the vicinity of 22 GHz due to water vapor.At frequen-
cies below 15 GHz, the attenuation is less. The presence of oxygen results in an
absorption peak in the vicinity of 60 GHz but contributes less at frequencies
below 30 GHz. Rain and fog (suspended water droplets) cause scattering of radio
waves that results in attenuation. In this context, the term scattering refers to the
production of waves of changed direction or frequency when radio waves
encounter matter. This can be a major cause of signal loss. Thus, in areas of signif-
icant precipitation, either path lengths have to be kept short or lower-frequency
bands should be used.
Multipath
For wireless facilities where there is a relatively free choice of where antennas are to
be located, they can be placed so that if there are no nearby interfering obstacles,
there is a direct line-of-sight path from transmitter to receiver. This is generally the
case for many satellite facilities and for point-to-point microwave. In other cases,
such as mobile telephony, there are obstacles in abundance. The signal can be
reflected by such obstacles so that multiple copies of the signal with varying delays
can be received. In fact, in extreme cases, there may be no direct signal. Depending
on the differences in the path lengths of the direct and reflected waves, the compos-
ite signal can be either larger or smaller than the direct signal. Reinforcement and
cancellation of the signal resulting from the signal following multiple paths can be
controlled for communication between fixed, well-sited antennas, and between
satellites and fixed ground stations. One exception is when the path goes across
water, where the wind keeps the reflective surface of the water in motion. For
mobile telephony and communication to antennas that are not well sited, multipath
considerations can be paramount.
Figure 4.11 illustrates in general terms the types of multipath interference typ-
ical in terrestrial, fixed microwave and in mobile communications. For fixed
microwave, in addition to the direct line of sight, the signal may follow a curved path
through the atmosphere due to refraction and the signal may also reflect from the
ground. For mobile communications, structures and topographic features provide
reflection surfaces.
4.5 / RECOMMENDED READING AND WEB SITES
133
(a) Microwave line of sight
(b) Mobile radio
Figure 4.11
Examples of Multipath Interference
Refraction
Radio waves are refracted (or bent) when they propagate through the atmo-
sphere.The refraction is caused by changes in the speed of the signal with altitude
or by other spatial changes in the atmospheric conditions. Normally, the speed of
the signal increases with altitude, causing radio waves to bend downward. How-
ever, on occasion, weather conditions may lead to variations in speed with height
that differ significantly from the typical variations.This may result in a situation in
which only a fraction or no part of the line-of-sight wave reaches the receiving
antenna.
4.5
RECOMMENDED READING AND WEB SITES
Detailed descriptions of the transmission characteristics of the transmission media discussed
in this chapter can be found in [FREE98]. [REEV95] provides an excellent treatment of
twisted pair and optical fiber. [BORE97] is a thorough treatment of optical fiber transmission
components. Another good paper on the subject is [WILL97]. [FREE02] is a detailed techni-
cal reference on optical fiber. [STAL00] discusses the characteristics of transmission media
for LANs in greater detail.
For a more thorough treatment on wireless transmission and propagation, see
[STAL05] and [RAPP02]. [FREE97] is an excellent detailed technical reference on wireless
topics.
134
CHAPTER 4 / TRANSMISSION MEDIA
BORE97
Borella, M., et al. “Optical Components for WDM Lightwave Networks.”
Proceedings of the IEEE, August 1997.
FREE97
Freeman, R. Radio System Design for Telecommunications. New York: Wiley, 1997.
FREE98
Freeman, R. Telecommunication Transmission Handbook. New York: Wiley, 1998.
FREE02
Freeman, R. Fiber-Optic Systems for Telecommunications. New York:Wiley, 2002.
RAPP02
Rappaport, T. Wireless Communications. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall,
2002.
REEV95
Reeve, W. Subscriber Loop Signaling and Transmission Handbook. Piscataway,
NJ: IEEE Press, 1995.
STAL00
Stallings, W. Local and Metropolitan Area Networks, Sixth Edition. Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000.
STAL05
Stallings, W. Wireless Communications and Networks, Second Edition. Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2005.
WILL97
Willner, A. “Mining the Optical Bandwidth for a Terabit per Second.” IEEE
Spectrum, April 1997.
Recommended Web sites:
• Siemon Company: Good collection of technical articles on cabling, plus information
about cabling standards
• Wireless developer network: News, tutorials, and discussions on wireless topics
• About antennas: Good source of information and links
• U.S. frequency allocation chart: Chart plus background paper
4.6
KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
Key Terms
antenna
infrared
refractive index
antenna gain
isotropic antenna
scattering
atmospheric absorption
line of sight (LOS)
satellite
attenuation
microwave frequencies
shielded twisted pair (STP)
coaxial cable
multipath
sky wave propagation
directional antenna
omnidirectional antenna
terrestrial microwave
effective area
optical fiber
transmission medium
free space loss
optical LOS
twisted pair
global positioning system
parabolic reflective antenna
unguided media
(GPS)
radio
unshielded twisted pair (UTP)
ground wave propagation
radio LOS
wavelength division
guided media
reflection
multiplexing (WDM)
index of refraction
refraction
wireless transmission
4.6 / KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
135
Review Questions
4.1. Why are the wires twisted in twisted-pair copper wire?
4.2. What are some major limitations of twisted-pair wire?
4.3. What is the difference between unshielded twisted pair and shielded twisted pair?
4.4. Describe the components of optical fiber cable.
4.5. What are some major advantages and disadvantages of microwave transmission?
4.6. What is direct broadcast satellite (DBS)?
4.7. Why must a satellite have distinct uplink and downlink frequencies?
4.8. Indicate some significant differences between broadcast radio and microwave.
4.9. What two functions are performed by an antenna?
4.10. What is an isotropic antenna?
4.11. What is the advantage of a parabolic reflective antenna?
4.12. What factors determine antenna gain?
4.13. What is the primary cause of signal loss in satellite communications?
4.14. What is refraction?
4.15. What is the difference between diffraction and scattering?
Problems
4.1
Suppose that data are stored on 1.4-Mbyte floppy diskettes that weigh 30 g each. Sup-
pose that an airliner carries
of these floppies at a speed of 1000 km/h over a
104 kg
distance of 5000 km. What is the data transmission rate in bits per second of this sys-
tem?
4.2
A telephone line is known to have a loss of 20 dB. The input signal power is measured
as 0.5 W, and the output noise level is measured as
Using this information,
4.5 mW.
calculate the output signal-to-noise ratio in dB.
4.3
Given a 100-Watt power source, what is the maximum allowable length for the fol-
lowing transmission media if a signal of 1 Watt is to be received?
a.
24-gauge (0.5 mm) twisted pair operating at 300 kHz
b.
24-gauge (0.5 mm) twisted pair operating at 1 MHz
c.
0.375-inch (9.5 mm) coaxial cable operating at 1 MHz
d.
0.375-inch (9.5 mm) coaxial cable operating at 25 MHz
e. optical fiber operating at its optimal frequency
4.4
Coaxial cable is a two-wire transmission system. What is the advantage of connecting
the outer conductor to ground?
4.5
Show that doubling the transmission frequency or doubling the distance between
transmitting antenna and receiving antenna attenuates the power received by 6 dB.
4.6
It turns out that the depth in the ocean to which airborne electromagnetic signals can
be detected grows with the wavelength. Therefore, the military got the idea of using
very long wavelengths corresponding to about 30 Hz to communicate with sub-
marines throughout the world. It is desirable to have an antenna that is about one-
half wavelength long. How long would that be?
4.7
The audio power of the human voice is concentrated at about 300 Hz. Antennas of
the appropriate size for this frequency are impracticably large, so that to send voice
by radio the voice signal must be used to modulate a higher (carrier) frequency for
which the natural antenna size is smaller.
a. What is the length of an antenna one-half wavelength long for sending radio at
300 Hz?
b. An alternative is to use a modulation scheme, as described in Chapter 5, for transmit-
ting the voice signal by modulating a carrier frequency, so that the bandwidth of the
136
CHAPTER 4 / TRANSMISSION MEDIA
signal is a narrow band centered on the carrier frequency. Suppose we would like a
half-wave antenna to have a length of 1 meter.What carrier frequency would we use?
4.8
Stories abound of people who receive radio signals in fillings in their teeth. Suppose
you have one filling that is 2.5 mm (0.0025 m) long that acts as a radio antenna. That
is, it is equal in length to one-half the wavelength. What frequency do you receive?
4.9
You are communicating between two satellites. The transmission obeys the free space
law. The signal is too weak. Your vendor offers you two options. The vendor can use a
higher frequency that is twice the current frequency or can double the effective area
of both of the antennas. Which will offer you more received power or will both offer
the same improvement, all other factors remaining equal? How much improvement
in the received power do you obtain from the best option?
4.10
In satellite communications, different frequency bands are used for the uplink and the
downlink. Discuss why this pattern occurs.
4.11
For radio transmission in free space, signal power is reduced in proportion to the
square of the distance from the source, whereas in wire transmission, the attenuation
is a fixed number of dB per kilometer. The following table is used to show the dB
reduction relative to some reference for free space radio and uniform wire. Fill in the
missing numbers to complete the table.
Distance (km)
Radio (dB)
Wire (dB)
1
-6
-3
2
4
8
16
4.12
Section 4.2 states that if a source of electromagnetic energy is placed at the focus of
the paraboloid, and if the paraboloid is a reflecting surface, then the wave will bounce
back in lines parallel to the axis of the paraboloid. To demonstrate this, consider the
parabola
shown in Figure 4.12. Let
be a point on the parabola,
y2 = 2px
P1x1 , y12
and PF be the line from P to the focus. Construct the line L through P parallel to the
x-axis and the line M tangent to the parabola at P. The angle between L and M is
b,
and the angle between PF and M is a.The angle a is the angle at which a ray from F
strikes the parabola at P. Because the angle of incidence equals the angle of reflec-
tion, the ray reflected from P must be at an angle a to M. Thus, if we can show that
we have demonstrated that rays reflected from the parabola starting at F will
a = b,
be parallel to the x-axis.
a. First show that tan
Hint: Recall from trigonometry that the slope of a
b = 1p/y12.
line is equal to the tangent of the angle the line makes with the positive
x-direction. Also recall that the slope of the line tangent to a curve at a given point
is equal to the derivative of the curve at that point.
b. Now show that tan
which demonstrates that
Hint: Recall from
a = 1p/y
a = b.
12,
trigonometry that the formula for the tangent of the difference between two
angles a and a is
tan1a2 - a12 = 1tan a2 - tan a12/11 + tan a2 * tan a12.
1
2
4.13
It is often more convenient to express distance in km rather than m and frequency in
MHz rather than Hz. Rewrite Equation (4.3) using these dimensions.
4.14
Suppose a transmitter produces 50 W of power.
a. Express the transmit power in units of dBm and dBW.
b. If the transmitter’s power is applied to a unity gain antenna with a 900-MHz carrier
frequency, what is the received power in dBm at a free space distance of 100 m?
c. Repeat (b) for a distance of 10 km.
d. Repeat (c) but assume a receiver antenna gain of 2.
4.6 / KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
137
M
y
b
P(x1, y1)
L
a
0
F(p/2, 0)
x
Figure 4.12
Parabolic Reflection
4.15
A microwave transmitter has an output of 0.1 W at 2 GHz. Assume that this transmit-
ter is used in a microwave communication system where the transmitting and receiv-
ing antennas are parabolas, each 1.2 m in diameter.
a. What is the gain of each antenna in decibels?
b. Taking into account antenna gain, what is the effective radiated power of the
transmitted signal?
c. If the receiving antenna is located 24 km from the transmitting antenna over a
free space path, find the available signal power out of the receiving antenna in
dBm units.
4.16
Section 4.3 states that with no intervening obstacles, the optical line of sight can be
expressed as
where d is the distance between an antenna and the hori-
d = 3.571h,
zon in kilometers and h is the antenna height in meters. Using a value for the earth’s
radius of 6370 km, derive this equation. Hint: Assume that the antenna is perpendicu-
lar to the earth’s surface, and note that the line from the top of the antenna to the
horizon forms a tangent to the earth’s surface at the horizon. Draw a picture showing
the antenna, the line of sight, and the earth’s radius to help visualize the problem.
4.17
Determine the height of an antenna for a TV station that must be able to reach cus-
tomers up to 80 km away.
4.18
Suppose a ray of visible light passes from the atmosphere into water at an angle to the
horizontal of 30°. What is the angle of the ray in the water? Note: At standard atmo-
spheric conditions at the earth’s surface, a reasonable value for refractive index is
1.0003. A typical value of refractive index for water is 4/3.
CHAPTER5
SIGNAL ENCODING TECHNIQUES
5.1
Digital Data, Digital Signals
5.2
Digital Data, Analog Signals
5.3
Analog Data, Digital Signals
5.4
Analog Data, Analog Signals
5.5
Recommended Reading
5.6
Key Terms, Review Questions, And Problems
138
Even the natives have difficulty mastering this peculiar vocabulary.
—The Golden Bough, Sir James George Frazer
KEY POINTS
•
Both analog and digital information can be encoded as either analog
or digital signals. The particular encoding that is chosen depends on
the specific requirements to be met and the media and communica-
tions facilities available.
•
Digital data, digital signals: The simplest form of digital encoding of
digital data is to assign one voltage level to binary one and another to
binary zero. More complex encoding schemes are used to improve
performance, by altering the spectrum of the signal and providing syn-
chronization capability.
•
Digital data, analog signal: A modem converts digital data to an ana-
log signal so that it can be transmitted over an analog line. The basic
techniques are amplitude shift keying (ASK), frequency shift keying
(FSK), and phase shift keying (PSK). All involve altering one or more
characteristics of a carrier frequency to represent binary data.
•
Analog data, digital signals: Analog data, such as voice and video, are
often digitized to be able to use digital transmission facilities. The sim-
plest technique is pulse code modulation (PCM), which involves sam-
pling the analog data periodically and quantizing the samples.
•
Analog data, analog signals: Analog data are modulated by a carrier
frequency to produce an analog signal in a different frequency band,
which can be utilized on an analog transmission system. The basic
techniques are amplitude modulation (AM), frequency modulation
(FM), and phase modulation (PM).
In Chapter 3 a distinction was made between analog and digital data and analog
and digital signals. Figure 3.14 suggested that either form of data could be
encoded into either form of signal.
Figure 5.1 is another depiction that emphasizes the process involved. For
digital signaling, a data source g(t), which may be either digital or analog, is
encoded into a digital signal x(t).The actual form of x(t) depends on the encoding
technique and is chosen to optimize use of the transmission medium. For exam-
ple, the encoding may be chosen to conserve bandwidth or to minimize errors.
The basis for analog signaling is a continuous constant-frequency signal
known as the carrier signal. The frequency of the carrier signal is chosen to be
compatible with the transmission medium being used. Data may be transmitted
using a carrier signal by modulation. Modulation is the process of encoding
139
140
CHAPTER 5 / SIGNAL ENCODING TECHNIQUES
x(t)
g(t)
x(t)
g(t)
Encoder
Decoder
Digital or
Digital
t
analog
(a) Encoding onto a digital signal
fc(t)
Carrier
S(f)
m(t)
s(t)
m(t)
Modulator
Demodulator
Digital or
Analog
f
analog
fc
(b) Modulation onto an analog signal
Figure 5.1
Encoding and Modulation Techniques
source data onto a carrier signal with frequency
All modulation techniques
fc .
involve operation on one or more of the three fundamental frequency domain
parameters: amplitude, frequency, and phase.
The input signal m(t) may be analog or digital and is called the modulating
signal or baseband signal. The result of modulating the carrier signal is called the
modulated signal s(t). As Figure 5.1b indicates, s(t) is a bandlimited (bandpass)
signal. The location of the bandwidth on the spectrum is related to f and is often
c
centered on fc.Again, the actual form of the encoding is chosen to optimize some
characteristic of the transmission.
Each of the four possible combinations depicted in Figure 5.1 is in wide-
spread use. The reasons for choosing a particular combination for any given com-
munication task vary. We list here some representative reasons:
• Digital data, digital signal: In general, the equipment for encoding digital
data into a digital signal is less complex and less expensive than digital-to-
analog modulation equipment.
• Analog data, digital signal: Conversion of analog data to digital form per-
mits the use of modern digital transmission and switching equipment. The
advantages of the digital approach were outlined in Section 3.2.
• Digital data, analog signal: Some transmission media, such as optical fiber
and unguided media, will only propagate analog signals.
• Analog data, analog signal: Analog data in electrical form can be trans-
mitted as baseband signals easily and cheaply. This is done with voice
transmission over voice-grade lines. One common use of modulation is to
shift the bandwidth of a baseband signal to another portion of the
spectrum. In this way multiple signals, each at a different position on the
5.1 / DIGITAL DATA, DIGITAL SIGNALS
141
spectrum, can share the same transmission medium. This is known as
frequency division multiplexing.
We now examine the techniques involved in each of these four combinations.
5.1
DIGITAL DATA, DIGITAL SIGNALS
A digital signal is a sequence of discrete, discontinuous voltage pulses. Each pulse is
a signal element. Binary data are transmitted by encoding each data bit into signal
elements. In the simplest case, there is a one-to-one correspondence between bits
and signal elements. An example is shown in Figure 3.16, in which binary 1 is repre-
sented by a lower voltage level and binary 0 by a higher voltage level. We show in
this section that a variety of other encoding schemes are also used.
First, we define some terms. If the signal elements all have the same algebraic sign,
that is, all positive or negative, then the signal is unipolar. In polar signaling, one logic
state is represented by a positive voltage level, and the other by a negative voltage level.
The data signaling rate, or just data rate, of a signal is the rate, in bits per second, that
data are transmitted.The duration or length of a bit is the amount of time it takes for the
transmitter to emit the bit; for a data rate R, the bit duration is 1/R. The modulation rate,
in contrast, is the rate at which the signal level is changed.This will depend on the nature
of the digital encoding, as explained later. The modulation rate is expressed in baud,
which means signal elements per second. Finally, the terms mark and space, for histori-
cal reasons, refer to the binary digits 1 and 0, respectively. Table 5.1 summarizes key
terms; these should be clearer when we see an example later in this section.
The tasks involved in interpreting digital signals at the receiver can be summa-
rized by again referring to Figure 3.16. First, the receiver must know the timing of
each bit. That is, the receiver must know with some accuracy when a bit begins and
ends. Second, the receiver must determine whether the signal level for each bit
position is high (0) or low (1). In Figure 3.16, these tasks are performed by sampling
each bit position in the middle of the interval and comparing the value to a thresh-
old. Because of noise and other impairments, there will be errors, as shown.
What factors determine how successful the receiver will be in interpreting
the incoming signal? We saw in Chapter 3 that three factors are important: the
Table 5.1
Key Data Transmission Terms
Term
Units
Definition
Data element
Bits
A single binary one or zero
Data rate
Bits per second (bps)
The rate at which data elements are transmitted
Signal element
Digital: a voltage pulse of
That part of a signal that occupies the shortest
constant amplitude
interval of a signaling code
Analog: a pulse of constant
frequency, phase, and amplitude
Signaling rate or
Signal elements per second
The rate at which signal
modulation rate
(baud)
elements are transmitted
142
CHAPTER 5 / SIGNAL ENCODING TECHNIQUES
Table 5.2
Definition of Digital Signal Encoding Formats
Nonreturn to Zero-Level (NRZ-L)
0 = high level
1 = low level
Nonreturn to Zero Inverted (NRZI)
0 = no transition at beginning of interval 1one bit time2
1 = transition at beginning of interval
Bipolar-AMI
0 = no line signal
1 = positive or negative level, alternating for successive ones
Pseudoternary
0 = positive or negative level, alternating for successive zeros
1 = no line signal
Manchester
0 = transition from high to low in middle of interval
1 = transition from low to high in middle of interval
Differential Manchester
Always a transition in middle of interval
0 = transition at beginning of interval
1 = no transition at beginning of interval
B8ZS
Same as bipolar AMI, except that any string of eight zeros is replaced by a string with two code violations
HDB3
Same as bipolar AMI, except that any string of four zeros is replaced by a string with one code violation
signal-to-noise ratio, the data rate, and the bandwidth. With other factors held
constant, the following statements are true:
• An increase in data rate increases bit error rate (BER).1
• An increase in SNR decreases bit error rate.
• An increase in bandwidth allows an increase in data rate.
There is another factor that can be used to improve performance, and that is
the encoding scheme. The encoding scheme is simply the mapping from data bits
to signal elements. A variety of approaches have been tried. In what follows, we
describe some of the more common ones; they are defined in Table 5.2 and depicted
in Figure 5.2.
Before describing these techniques, let us consider the following ways of eval-
uating or comparing the various techniques.
1The BER is the most common measure of error performance on a data circuit and is defined as the
probability that a bit is received in error. It is also called the bit error ratio. This latter term is clearer,
because the term rate typically refers to some quantity that varies with time. Unfortunately, most books
and standards documents refer to the R in BER as rate.
5.1 / DIGITAL DATA, DIGITAL SIGNALS
143
0
1
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
1
1
NRZ-L
NRZI
Bipolar-AMI
(most recent
preceding 1 bit has
negative voltage)
Pseudoternary
(most recent
preceding 0 bit has
negative voltage)
Manchester
Differential
Manchester
Figure 5.2
Digital Signal Encoding Formats
• Signal spectrum: Several aspects of the signal spectrum are important. A lack
of high-frequency components means that less bandwidth is required for
transmission. In addition, lack of a direct-current (dc) component is also desir-
able. With a dc component to the signal, there must be direct physical attach-
ment of transmission components. With no dc component, ac coupling via
transformer is possible; this provides excellent electrical isolation, reducing
interference. Finally, the magnitude of the effects of signal distortion and inter-
ference depend on the spectral properties of the transmitted signal. In prac-
tice, it usually happens that the transmission characteristics of a channel are
worse near the band edges. Therefore, a good signal design should concentrate
the transmitted power in the middle of the transmission bandwidth. In such a
case, a smaller distortion should be present in the received signal. To meet this
objective, codes can be designed with the aim of shaping the spectrum of the
transmitted signal.
• Clocking: We mentioned the need to determine the beginning and end of each
bit position. This is no easy task. One rather expensive approach is to provide
144
CHAPTER 5 / SIGNAL ENCODING TECHNIQUES
a separate clock lead to synchronize the transmitter and receiver. The alterna-
tive is to provide some synchronization mechanism that is based on the trans-
mitted signal. This can be achieved with suitable encoding, as explained
subsequently.
• Error detection: We will discuss various error-detection techniques in Chapter 6
and show that these are the responsibility of a layer of logic above the signaling
level that is known as data link control. However, it is useful to have some error
detection capability built into the physical signaling encoding scheme. This per-
mits errors to be detected more quickly.
• Signal interference and noise immunity: Certain codes exhibit superior perform-
ance in the presence of noise. Performance is usually expressed in terms of a
BER.
• Cost and complexity: Although digital logic continues to drop in price, this fac-
tor should not be ignored. In particular, the higher the signaling rate to achieve
a given data rate, the greater the cost. We shall see that some codes require a
signaling rate that is greater than the actual data rate.
We now turn to a discussion of various techniques.
Nonreturn to Zero (NRZ)
The most common, and easiest, way to transmit digital signals is to use two different
voltage levels for the two binary digits. Codes that follow this strategy share the
property that the voltage level is constant during a bit interval; there is no transition
(no return to a zero voltage level). For example, the absence of voltage can be used
to represent binary 0, with a constant positive voltage used to represent binary 1.
More commonly, a negative voltage represents one binary value and a positive volt-
age represents the other. This latter code, known as Nonreturn to Zero-Level
(NRZ-L), is illustrated2 in Figure 5.2. NRZ-L is typically the code used to generate
or interpret digital data by terminals and other devices. If a different code is to be
used for transmission, it is generated from an NRZ-L signal by the transmission sys-
tem [in terms of Figure 5.1, NRZ-L is g(t) and the encoded signal is x(t)].
A variation of NRZ is known as NRZI (Nonreturn to Zero, invert on ones).
As with NRZ-L, NRZI maintains a constant voltage pulse for the duration of a bit
time. The data themselves are encoded as the presence or absence of a signal transi-
tion at the beginning of the bit time. A transition (low to high or high to low) at the
beginning of a bit time denotes a binary 1 for that bit time; no transition indicates a
binary 0.
NRZI is an example of differential encoding. In differential encoding, the
information to be transmitted is represented in terms of the changes between suc-
cessive signal elements rather than the signal elements themselves. The encoding
of the current bit is determined as follows: If the current bit is a binary 0, then the
2In this figure, a negative voltage is equated with binary 1 and a positive voltage with binary 0. This is the
opposite of the definition used in virtually all other textbooks. The definition here conforms to the use of
NRZ-L in data communications interfaces and the standards that govern those interfaces.
5.1 / DIGITAL DATA, DIGITAL SIGNALS
145
current bit is encoded with the same signal as the preceding bit; if the current bit is
a binary 1, then the current bit is encoded with a different signal than the preced-
ing bit. One benefit of differential encoding is that it may be more reliable to
detect a transition in the presence of noise than to compare a value to a threshold.
Another benefit is that with a complex transmission layout, it is easy to lose the
sense of the polarity of the signal. For example, on a multidrop twisted-pair line, if
the leads from an attached device to the twisted pair are accidentally inverted, all
1s and 0s for NRZ-L will be inverted. This does not happen with differential
encoding.
The NRZ codes are the easiest to engineer and, in addition, make efficient use
of bandwidth. This latter property is illustrated in Figure 5.3, which compares the
spectral density of various encoding schemes. In the figure, frequency is normalized
to the data rate. Most of the energy in NRZ and NRZI signals is between dc and
half the bit rate. For example, if an NRZ code is used to generate a signal with data
rate of 9600 bps, most of the energy in the signal is concentrated between dc and
4800 Hz.
The main limitations of NRZ signals are the presence of a dc component and
the lack of synchronization capability. To picture the latter problem, consider that
with a long string of 1s or 0s for NRZ-L or a long string of 0s for NRZI, the output
is a constant voltage over a long period of time. Under these circumstances, any drift
between the clocks of transmitter and receiver will result in loss of synchronization
between the two.
Because of their simplicity and relatively low frequency response characteris-
tics, NRZ codes are commonly used for digital magnetic recording. However, their
limitations make these codes unattractive for signal transmission applications.
1.4
B8ZS, HDB3
AMI
alternate mark inversion
B8ZS
bipolar with 8 zeros substitution
1.2
HDB3
high-density bipolar—3 zeros
NRZ-L
nonreturn to zero level
NRZ-I,
NRZI
nonreturn to zero inverted
NRZI
1.0
f
frequency
R
data rate
0.8
AMI, pseudoternary
0.6
0.4
Manchester,
differential Manchester
0.2
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
2.0
Normalized frequency (f/R)
Figure 5.3
Spectral Density of Various Signal Encoding Schemes
146
CHAPTER 5 / SIGNAL ENCODING TECHNIQUES
Multilevel Binary
A category of encoding techniques known as multilevel binary addresses some of
the deficiencies of the NRZ codes. These codes use more than two signal levels. Two
examples of this scheme are illustrated in Figure 5.2, bipolar-AMI (alternate mark
inversion) and pseudoternary.3
In the case of the bipolar-AMI scheme, a binary 0 is represented by no line
signal, and a binary 1 is represented by a positive or negative pulse. The binary 1
pulses must alternate in polarity. There are several advantages to this approach.
First, there will be no loss of synchronization if a long string of 1s occurs. Each 1
introduces a transition, and the receiver can resynchronize on that transition. A
long string of 0s would still be a problem. Second, because the 1 signals alternate in
voltage from positive to negative, there is no net dc component. Also, the band-
width of the resulting signal is considerably less than the bandwidth for NRZ
(Figure 5.3). Finally, the pulse alternation property provides a simple means of
error detection.Any isolated error,whether it deletes a pulse or adds a pulse,causes
a violation of this property.
The comments of the previous paragraph also apply to pseudoternary. In this
case, it is the binary 1 that is represented by the absence of a line signal, and the
binary 0 by alternating positive and negative pulses. There is no particular advan-
tage of one technique versus the other, and each is the basis of some applications.
Although a degree of synchronization is provided with these codes, a long
string of 0s in the case of AMI or 1s in the case of pseudoternary still presents a
problem. Several techniques have been used to address this deficiency. One
approach is to insert additional bits that force transitions. This technique is used in
ISDN (integrated services digital network) for relatively low data rate transmission.
Of course, at a high data rate, this scheme is expensive, because it results in an
increase in an already high signal transmission rate. To deal with this problem at
high data rates, a technique that involves scrambling the data is used. We examine
two examples of this technique later in this section.
Thus, with suitable modification, multilevel binary schemes overcome the
problems of NRZ codes. Of course, as with any engineering design decision, there is
a tradeoff. With multilevel binary coding, the line signal may take on one of three
levels, but each signal element, which could represent
bits of informa-
log2 3 = 1.58
tion, bears only one bit of information. Thus multilevel binary is not as efficient as
NRZ coding. Another way to state this is that the receiver of multilevel binary sig-
nals has to distinguish between three levels
instead of just two levels in
1+A, -A, 02
the signaling formats previously discussed. Because of this, the multilevel binary sig-
nal requires approximately 3 dB more signal power than a two-valued signal for the
same probability of bit error. This is illustrated in Figure 5.4. Put another way, the bit
error rate for NRZ codes, at a given signal-to-noise ratio, is significantly less than
that for multilevel binary.
3These terms are not used consistently in the literature. In some books, these two terms are used for dif-
ferent encoding schemes than those defined here, and a variety of terms have been used for the two
schemes illustrated in Figure 5.2. The nomenclature used here corresponds to the usage in various ITU-T
standards documents.
5.1 / DIGITAL DATA, DIGITAL SIGNALS
147
1.0
101
AMI, pseudoternary,
ASK, FSK
102
103
NRZ, biphase
PSK, QPSK
104
105
3 dB
106
107
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
(Eb/N0) (dB)
Figure 5.4
Theoretical Bit Error Rate for Various Encoding
Schemes
Biphase
There is another set of coding techniques, grouped under the term biphase, that
overcomes the limitations of NRZ codes. Two of these techniques, Manchester and
differential Manchester, are in common use.
In the Manchester code, there is a transition at the middle of each bit period.
The midbit transition serves as a clocking mechanism and also as data: a low-to-high
transition represents a 1, and a high-to-low transition represents a 0.4 In differential
Manchester, the midbit transition is used only to provide clocking. The encoding of
a 0 is represented by the presence of a transition at the beginning of a bit period, and
a 1 is represented by the absence of a transition at the beginning of a bit period. Dif-
ferential Manchester has the added advantage of employing differential encoding.
All of the biphase techniques require at least one transition per bit time and
may have as many as two transitions. Thus, the maximum modulation rate is twice
that for NRZ; this means that the bandwidth required is correspondingly greater.
On the other hand, the biphase schemes have several advantages:
• Synchronization: Because there is a predictable transition during each bit
time, the receiver can synchronize on that transition. For this reason, the
biphase codes are known as self-clocking codes.
• No dc component: Biphase codes have no dc component, yielding the benefits
described earlier.
4The definition of Manchester presented here is the opposite of that used in a number of respectable
textbooks, in which a low-to-high transition represents a binary 0 and a high-to-low transition represents
a binary 1. Here, we conform to industry practice and to the definition used in the various LAN stan-
dards, such as IEEE 802.3.
148
CHAPTER 5 / SIGNAL ENCODING TECHNIQUES
• Error detection: The absence of an expected transition can be used to detect
errors. Noise on the line would have to invert both the signal before and after
the expected transition to cause an undetected error.
As can be seen from Figure 5.3, the bandwidth for biphase codes is reasonably
narrow and contains no dc component. However, it is wider than the bandwidth for
the multilevel binary codes.
Biphase codes are popular techniques for data transmission. The more com-
mon Manchester code has been specified for the IEEE 802.3 (Ethernet) standard
for baseband coaxial cable and twisted-pair bus LANs. Differential Manchester
has been specified for the IEEE 802.5 token ring LAN, using shielded twisted
pair.
Modulation Rate
When signal-encoding techniques are used, a distinction needs to be made between
data rate (expressed in bits per second) and modulation rate (expressed in baud).
The data rate, or bit rate, is
where
duration. The modulation rate is the
Tb
1/T
= bit
b,
rate at which signal elements are generated. Consider, for example, Manchester
encoding. The minimum size signal element is a pulse of one-half the duration of a
bit interval. For a string of all binary zeroes or all binary ones, a continuous stream
of such pulses is generated. Hence the maximum modulation rate for Manchester is
. This situation is illustrated in Figure 5.5, which shows the transmission of a
2/Tb
stream of binary 1s at a data rate of 1 Mbps using NRZI and Manchester. In general,
R
R
D =
(5.1)
L =
log2 M
5 bits
5 s
1
1
1
1
1
NRZI
1 bit
1 signal element
1
s
Manchester
1 bit
1 signal element
1
s
0.5
s
Figure 5.5
A Stream of Binary Ones at 1 Mbps
5.1 / DIGITAL DATA, DIGITAL SIGNALS
149
Table 5.3
Normalized Signal Transition Rate of Various Digital Signal Encoding
Schemes
Minimum
101010 . . .
Maximum
NRZ-L
0 (all 0s or 1s)
1.0
1.0
NRZI
0 (all 0s)
0.5
1.0 (all 1s)
Bipolar-AMI
0 (all 0s)
1.0
1.0
Pseudoternary
0 (all 1s)
1.0
1.0
Manchester
1.0 (1010 . . .)
1.0
2.0 (all 0s or 1s)
Differential Manchester
1.0 (all 1s)
1.5
2.0 (all 0s)
where
D = modulation rate, baud
R = data rate, bps
M = number of different signal elements = 2L
L = number of bits per signal element
One way of characterizing the modulation rate is to determine the average
number of transitions that occur per bit time. In general, this will depend on the
exact sequence of bits being transmitted. Table 5.3 compares transition rates for var-
ious techniques. It indicates the signal transition rate in the case of a data stream of
alternating 1s and 0s, and for the data stream that produces the minimum and maxi-
mum modulation rate.
Scrambling Techniques
Although the biphase techniques have achieved widespread use in local area net-
work applications at relatively high data rates (up to 10 Mbps), they have not been
widely used in long-distance applications. The principal reason for this is that they
require a high signaling rate relative to the data rate. This sort of inefficiency is more
costly in a long-distance application.
Another approach is to make use of some sort of scrambling scheme. The idea
behind this approach is simple: Sequences that would result in a constant voltage
level on the line are replaced by filling sequences that will provide sufficient transi-
tions for the receiver’s clock to maintain synchronization. The filling sequence must
be recognized by the receiver and replaced with the original data sequence. The fill-
ing sequence is the same length as the original sequence, so there is no data rate
penalty. The design goals for this approach can be summarized as follows:
• No dc component
• No long sequences of zero-level line signals
• No reduction in data rate
• Error-detection capability
150
CHAPTER 5 / SIGNAL ENCODING TECHNIQUES
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
Bipolar-AMI
0
0
0
V
B
0
V
B
B8ZS
0
0
0
V
B
0
0
V
B
0
0
V
HDB3
(odd number of 1s
since last substitution)
B Valid bipolar signal
V Bipolar violation
Figure 5.6
Encoding Rules for B8ZS and HDB3
Two techniques are commonly used in long-distance transmission services;
these are illustrated in Figure 5.6.
A coding scheme that is commonly used in North America is known as bipolar
with 8-zeros substitution (B8ZS). The coding scheme is based on a bipolar-AMI. We
have seen that the drawback of the AMI code is that a long string of zeros may
result in loss of synchronization. To overcome this problem, the encoding is
amended with the following rules:
• If an octet of all zeros occurs and the last voltage pulse preceding this octet
was positive, then the eight zeros of the octet are encoded as
000 + - 0 - + .
• If an octet of all zeros occurs and the last voltage pulse preceding this octet
was negative, then the eight zeros of the octet are encoded as
000 - + 0 + - .
This technique forces two code violations (signal patterns not allowed in AMI)
of the AMI code, an event unlikely to be caused by noise or other transmission
impairment. The receiver recognizes the pattern and interprets the octet as consist-
ing of all zeros.
A coding scheme that is commonly used in Europe and Japan is known as the
high-density bipolar-3 zeros (HDB3) code (Table 5.4). As before, it is based on the
use of AMI encoding. In this case, the scheme replaces strings of four zeros with
sequences containing one or two pulses. In each case, the fourth zero is replaced
with a code violation. In addition, a rule is needed to ensure that successive viola-
tions are of alternate polarity so that no dc component is introduced. Thus, if the last
violation was positive, this violation must be negative and vice versa. Table 5.4
shows that this condition is tested for by determining (1) whether the number of
5.2 / DIGITAL DATA, ANALOG SIGNALS
151
Table 5.4
HDB3 Substitution Rules
Number of Bipolar Pulses (ones) since Last Substitution
Polarity of Preceding Pulse
Odd
Even
-
0 0 0 -
+ 0 0 +
+
0 0 0 +
- 0 0 -
pulses since the last violation is even or odd and (2) the polarity of the last pulse
before the occurrence of the four zeros.
Figure 5.3 shows the spectral properties of these two codes. As can be seen,
neither has a dc component. Most of the energy is concentrated in a relatively sharp
spectrum around a frequency equal to one-half the data rate. Thus, these codes are
well suited to high data rate transmission.
5.2
DIGITAL DATA, ANALOG SIGNALS
We turn now to the case of transmitting digital data using analog signals. The most
familiar use of this transformation is for transmitting digital data through the public
telephone network. The telephone network was designed to receive, switch, and
transmit analog signals in the voice-frequency range of about 300 to 3400 Hz. It is
not at present suitable for handling digital signals from the subscriber locations
(although this is beginning to change). Thus digital devices are attached to the net-
work via a modem (modulator-demodulator), which converts digital data to analog
signals, and vice versa.
For the telephone network, modems are used that produce signals in the
voice-frequency range. The same basic techniques are used for modems that pro-
duce signals at higher frequencies (e.g., microwave). This section introduces these
techniques and provides a brief discussion of the performance characteristics of the
alternative approaches.
We mentioned that modulation involves operation on one or more of the
three characteristics of a carrier signal: amplitude, frequency, and phase. Accord-
ingly, there are three basic encoding or modulation techniques for transforming dig-
ital data into analog signals, as illustrated in Figure 5.7: amplitude shift keying
(ASK), frequency shift keying (FSK), and phase shift keying (PSK). In all these
cases, the resulting signal occupies a bandwidth centered on the carrier frequency.
Amplitude Shift Keying
In ASK, the two binary values are represented by two different amplitudes of the car-
rier frequency. Commonly, one of the amplitudes is zero; that is, one binary digit is rep-
resented by the presence, at constant amplitude, of the carrier, the other by the
absence of the carrier (Figure 5.7a). The resulting transmitted signal for one bit time is
A cos12pfct2
binary 1
ASK s1t2 = e
(5.2)
0
binary 0
152
CHAPTER 5 / SIGNAL ENCODING TECHNIQUES
0
0
1
1
0
1
0
0
0
1
0
(a) ASK
(b) BFSK
(c) BPSK
Figure 5.7
Modulation of Analog Signals for Digital Data
where the carrier signal is
ASK is susceptible to sudden gain changes
A cos12pfct2.
and is a rather inefficient modulation technique. On voice-grade lines, it is typically
used only up to 1200 bps.
The ASK technique is used to transmit digital data over optical fiber. For LED
(light-emitting diode) transmitters, Equation (5.2) is valid. That is, one signal ele-
ment is represented by a light pulse while the other signal element is represented by
the absence of light. Laser transmitters normally have a fixed “bias” current that
causes the device to emit a low light level. This low level represents one signal ele-
ment, while a higher-amplitude lightwave represents another signal element.
Frequency Shift Keying
The most common form of FSK is binary FSK (BFSK), in which the two binary val-
ues are represented by two different frequencies near the carrier frequency (Figure
5.7b). The resulting transmitted signal for one bit time is
A cos12pf1t2
binary 1
BFSK s1t2 = e
(5.3)
A cos12pf2t2
binary 0
where f and f are typically offset from the carrier frequency f by equal but oppo-
1
2
c
site amounts.
5.2 / DIGITAL DATA, ANALOG SIGNALS
153
Signal strength
Spectrum of signal
Spectrum of signal
transmitted in one
transmitted in
direction
opposite direction
1070 1270
2025 2225
Frequency (Hz)
Figure 5.8
Full-Duplex FSK Transmission on a Voice-Grade Line
Figure 5.8 shows an example of the use of BFSK for full-duplex operation over
a voice-grade line. The figure is a specification for the Bell System 108 series
modems. Recall that a voice-grade line will pass frequencies in the approximate
range 300 to 3400 Hz and that full duplex means that signals are transmitted in both
directions at the same time. To achieve full-duplex transmission, this bandwidth is
split. In one direction (transmit or receive), the frequencies used to represent 1 and
0 are centered on 1170 Hz, with a shift of 100 Hz on either side. The effect of alter-
nating between those two frequencies is to produce a signal whose spectrum is indi-
cated as the shaded area on the left in Figure 5.8. Similarly, for the other direction
(receive or transmit) the modem uses frequencies shifted 100 Hz to each side of a
center frequency of 2125 Hz. This signal is indicated by the shaded area on the right
in Figure 5.8. Note that there is little overlap and thus little interference.
BFSK is less susceptible to error than ASK. On voice-grade lines, it is typically
used up to 1200 bps. It is also commonly used for high-frequency (3 to 30 MHz)
radio transmission. It can also be used at even higher frequencies on local area
networks that use coaxial cable.
A signal that is more bandwidth efficient, but also more susceptible to error, is
multiple FSK (MFSK), in which more than two frequencies are used. In this case
each signaling element represents more than one bit. The transmitted MFSK signal
for one signal element time can be defined as follows:
MFSK si1t2 = A cos 2pf
i
t,
1 … i … M
(5.4)
where
f
i
= fc + 12i - 1 - M2fd
fc = the carrier frequency
fd = the difference frequency
M = number of different signal elements = 2L
L = number of bits per signal element
To match the data rate of the input bit stream, each output signal element is
held for a period of
T
seconds, where T is the bit period (data
rate = 1/T).
s
= LT
Thus, one signal element, which is a constant-frequency tone, encodes L bits. The
154
CHAPTER 5 / SIGNAL ENCODING TECHNIQUES
total bandwidth required is
2Mfd .
It can be shown that the minimum frequency sep-
aration required is
2fd = 1/T
s.
Therefore, the modulator requires a bandwidth of
Wd = 2Mfd = M/Ts .
EXAMPLE 5.1 With
f
c
= 250 kHz, fd = 25 kHz,
and
M = 8 1L = 3 bits2,
we
have the following frequency assignments for each of the eight possible 3-bit
data combinations:
f1 = 75 kHz
000
f2 = 125 kHz
001
f3 = 175 kHz
010
f4 = 225 kHz
011
f5 = 275 kHz
100
f6 = 325 kHz
101
f7 = 375 kHz
110
f8 = 425 kHz
111
This scheme can support a data rate of 1/T = 2Lfd = 150 kbps.
EXAMPLE 5.2 Figure 5.9 shows an example of MFSK with
An input bit
M = 4.
stream of 20 bits is encoded 2 bits at a time, with each of the four possible 2-bit
combinations transmitted as a different frequency. The display in the figure shows
the frequency transmitted (y-axis) as a function of time (x-axis). Each column rep-
resents a time unit
in which a single 2-bit signal element is transmitted. The
T
s
shaded rectangle in the column indicates the frequency transmitted during that
time unit.
Phase Shift Keying
In PSK, the phase of the carrier signal is shifted to represent data.
Two-Level PSK The simplest scheme uses two phases to represent the two
binary digits (Figure 5.7c) and is known as binary phase shift keying. The resulting
transmitted signal for one bit time is
A cos12pfct2
A cos12pfct2
binary 1
BPSK s1t2 = e
= e
(5.5)
A cos12pfct + p2
- A cos12pfct2
binary 0
Because a phase shift of 180°
1p2
is equivalent to flipping the sine wave or
multiplying it by - 1, the rightmost expressions in Equation (5.5) can be used. This
Data
0 1
1 1
0 0
1 1
11
0 1
10
0 0
0 0
1 1
fc
3fd
fc
fd
fc
fd
fc Wd
fc
3 fd
T
Ts
Time
Figure 5.9
MFSK Frequency Use 1M = 42
5.2 / DIGITAL DATA, ANALOG SIGNALS
155
0
0
1
1
0
1
0
0
0
1
0
Figure 5.10
Differential Phase-Shift Keying (DPSK)
leads to a convenient formulation. If we have a bit stream, and we define d(t) as the
discrete function that takes on the value of
for one bit time if the corresponding
+1
bit in the bit stream is 1 and the value of
for one bit time if the corresponding bit
-1
in the bit stream is 0, then we can define the transmitted signal as
BPSK sd1t2 = A d1t2cos12pfct2
(5.6)
An alternative form of two-level PSK is differential PSK (DPSK). Figure 5.10
shows an example. In this scheme, a binary 0 is represented by sending a signal burst
of the same phase as the previous signal burst sent. A binary 1 is represented by send-
ing a signal burst of opposite phase to the preceding one. This term differential refers
to the fact that the phase shift is with reference to the previous bit transmitted rather
than to some constant reference signal. In differential encoding, the information to
be transmitted is represented in terms of the changes between successive data sym-
bols rather than the signal elements themselves. DPSK avoids the requirement for an
accurate local oscillator phase at the receiver that is matched with the transmitter. As
long as the preceding phase is received correctly, the phase reference is accurate.
Four-Level PSK More efficient use of bandwidth can be achieved if each signal-
ing element represents more than one bit. For example, instead of a phase shift of
180°, as allowed in BPSK, a common encoding technique, known as quadrature
phase shift keying (QPSK), uses phase shifts separated by multiples of
p/2 190°2.
p
A cos a 2pfct +
11
4b
3p
A cos a 2pfct +
01
4 b
QPSK s1t2 = h
(5.7)
3p
A cos a 2pfct -
00
4 b
p
A cos a 2pfct -
10
4b
Thus each signal element represents two bits rather than one.
156
CHAPTER 5 / SIGNAL ENCODING TECHNIQUES
I(t)
an
1
R/2 bps
cos 2Pfct
2
Carrier
Binary
oscillator
input
2-bit
Signal out
serial-to-parallel
1
s(t)
R
converter
Tb
Phase
P/2
R/2 bps
shift
sin 2Pfct
2
Delay
Tb
Q(t)
bn
1
OQPSK
only
Figure 5.11
QPSK and OQPSK Modulators
Figure 5.11 shows the QPSK modulation scheme in general terms. The input
is a stream of binary digits with a data rate of
where T is the width of
b
R = 1/Tb,
each bit.This stream is converted into two separate bit streams of R/2 bps each, by
taking alternate bits for the two streams. The two data streams are referred to as
the I (in-phase) and Q (quadrature phase) streams. In the diagram, the upper
stream is modulated on a carrier of frequency f by multiplying the bit stream by
c
the carrier. For convenience of modulator structure we map binary 1 to
and
21/2
binary 0 to
Thus, a binary 1 is represented by a scaled version of the carrier
- 21/2.
wave and a binary 0 is represented by a scaled version of the negative of the carrier
wave, both at a constant amplitude. This same carrier wave is shifted by 90° and
used for modulation of the lower binary stream. The two modulated signals are
then added together and transmitted. The transmitted signal can be expressed as
follows:
1
1
QPSK s1t2 =
I1t2 cos 2pfct -
Q1t2 sin 2pfct
22
22
Figure 5.12 shows an example of QPSK coding. Each of the two modulated
streams is a BPSK signal at half the data rate of the original bit stream. Thus, the
combined signals have a symbol rate that is half the input bit rate. Note that from
one symbol time to the next, a phase change of as much as 180°
is possible.
1p2
Figure 5.11 also shows a variation of QPSK known as offset QPSK (OQPSK),
or orthogonal QPSK. The difference is that a delay of one bit time is introduced in
the Q stream, resulting in the following signal:
1
1
s1t2 =
I1t2 cos 2pfct -
Q1t - Tb2 sin 2pfct
22
22
Because OQPSK differs from QPSK only by the delay in the Q stream, its
spectral characteristics and bit error performance are the same as that of QPSK.
5.2 / DIGITAL DATA, ANALOG SIGNALS
157
Bit number
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
value
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
I
Q I Q I Q I Q I Q
Input signal
I(t)
1
3
5
7
9
Q(t)
2
4
6
8
10
Phase of
P/4
P/4
3P/4
3P/4
P/4
output signal
Q(t Tb)
Phase of
P/4
P/4
P/4
3P/4
3P/4
3P/4 3P/4
P/4
P/4
output signal
Figure 5.12
Example of QPSK and OQPSK Waveforms
From Figure 5.12, we can observe that only one of two bits in the pair can change
sign at any time and thus the phase change in the combined signal never exceeds 90°
This can be an advantage because physical limitations on phase modulators
1p/22.
make large phase shifts at high transition rates difficult to perform. OQPSK also
provides superior performance when the transmission channel (including transmit-
ter and receiver) has significant nonlinear components. The effect of nonlinearities
is a spreading of the signal bandwidth, which may result in adjacent channel inter-
ference. It is easier to control this spreading if the phase changes are smaller, hence
the advantage of OQPSK over QPSK.
Multilevel PSK The use of multiple levels can be extended beyond taking bits
two at a time. It is possible to transmit bits three at a time using eight different phase
angles. Further, each angle can have more than one amplitude. For example, a stan-
dard 9600 bps modem uses 12 phase angles, four of which have two amplitude val-
ues, for a total of 16 different signal elements.
This latter example points out very well the difference between the data rate R
(in bps) and the modulation rate D (in baud) of a signal. Let us assume that this
scheme is being employed with digital input in which each bit is represented by a
constant voltage pulse, one level for binary one and one level for binary zero. The
data rate is
However, the encoded signal contains
bits in each sig-
R = 1/T
L = 4
b.
nal element using
different combinations of amplitude and phase. The
M = 16
modulation rate can be seen to be R/4, because each change of signal element com-
municates four bits. Thus the line signaling speed is 2400 baud, but the data rate is
158
CHAPTER 5 / SIGNAL ENCODING TECHNIQUES
9600 bps. This is the reason that higher bit rates can be achieved over voice-grade
lines by employing more complex modulation schemes.
Performance
In looking at the performance of various digital-to-analog modulation schemes, the
first parameter of interest is the bandwidth of the modulated signal. This depends on
a variety of factors, including the definition of bandwidth used and the filtering tech-
nique used to create the bandpass signal. We will use some straightforward results
from [COUC01].
The transmission bandwidth B for ASK is of the form
T
ASK BT
= 11 + r2R
(5.8)
where R is the bit rate and r is related to the technique by which the signal is filtered
to establish a bandwidth for transmission; typically
Thus the bandwidth
0 6 r 6 1.
is directly related to the bit rate. The preceding formula is also valid for PSK and,
under certain assumptions, FSK.
With multilevel PSK (MPSK), significant improvements in bandwidth can be
achieved. In general,
1 + r
MPSK BT = a
(5.10)
L bR=
log2
MbR
where L is the number of bits encoded per signal element and M is the number of
different signal elements.
For multilevel FSK (MFSK), we have
11 + r2M
MFSK BT = a
(5.11)
log2
M bR
Table 5.5 shows the ratio of data rate, R, to transmission bandwidth for vari-
ous schemes.This ratio is also referred to as the bandwidth efficiency.As the name
suggests, this parameter measures the efficiency with which bandwidth can be
used to transmit data. The advantage of multilevel signaling methods now
becomes clear.
Of course, the preceding discussion refers to the spectrum of the input signal
to a communications line. Nothing has yet been said of performance in the presence
of noise. Figure 5.4 summarizes some results based on reasonable assumptions
concerning the transmission system [COUC01]. Here bit error rate is plotted as a
function of the ratio
defined in Chapter 3. Of course, as that ratio increases,
Eb/N0
the bit error rate drops. Further, DPSK and BPSK are about 3 dB superior to ASK
and BFSK.
Figure 5.13 shows the same information for various levels of M for MFSK and
MPSK. There is an important difference. For MFSK, the error probability for a
given value
of decreases as M increases, while the opposite is true for MPSK.
Eb/N0
On the other hand, comparing Equations (5.10) and (5.11), the bandwidth efficiency
of MFSK decreases as M increases, while the opposite is true of MPSK. Thus, in both
5.2 / DIGITAL DATA, ANALOG SIGNALS
159
Table 5.5
Bandwidth Efficiency
1R/BT2
for Various Digital-to-Analog Encoding Schemes
r
0
r
0.5
r
1
ASK
1.0
0.67
0.5
FSK
0.5
0.33
0.25
Multilevel FSK
M = 4, L = 2
0.5
0.33
0.25
M = 8, L = 3
0.375
0.25
0.1875
M = 16, L = 4
0.25
0.167
0.125
M = 32, L = 5
0.156
0.104
0.078
PSK
1.0
0.67
0.5
Multilevel PSK
M = 4, L = 2
2.00
1.33
1.00
M = 8, L = 3
3.00
2.00
1.50
M = 16, L = 4
4.00
2.67
2.00
M = 32, L = 5
5.00
3.33
2.50
cases, there is a tradeoff between bandwidth efficiency and error performance: An
increase in bandwidth efficiency results in an increase in error probability. The fact
that these tradeoffs move in opposite directions with respect to the number of levels
M for MFSK and MPSK can be derived from the underlying equations. A discussion
of the reasons for this difference is beyond the scope of this book. See [SKLA01] for
a full treatment.
1.0
1.0
101
101
102
102
103
103
M
8
104
104
M
2
105
105
106
106
M
4
M
8
M
2
M
4
7
10
107
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15
(Eb/N0) (dB)
(Eb/N0) (dB)
(a) Multilevel FSK (MFSK)
(b) Multilevel PSK (MPSK)
Figure 5.13
Theoretical Bit Error Rate for Multilevel FSK and PSK
160
CHAPTER 5 / SIGNAL ENCODING TECHNIQUES
EXAMPLE 5.3 What is the bandwidth efficiency for FSK, ASK, PSK, and
QPSK for a bit error rate of
10-7
on a channel with an SNR of 12 dB?
Using Equation (3.2), we have
Eb
R
a
b
= 12 dB - a
b
N
0
dB
BT dB
For FSK and ASK, from Figure 5.4,
Eb
a
b
= 14.2 dB
N
0
dB
a R
b
= -2.2 dB
B
T dB
R
= 0.6
BT
For PSK, from Figure 5.4,
Eb
a
b
= 11.2 dB
N
0
dB
a R
b
= 0.8 dB
B
T dB
R
= 1.2
BT
The result for QPSK must take into account that the baud rate
D = R/2.
Thus
R
= 2.4
BT
As the preceding example shows, ASK and FSK exhibit the same bandwidth
efficiency, PSK is better, and even greater improvement can be achieved with multi-
level signaling.
It is worthwhile to compare these bandwidth requirements with those for dig-
ital signaling. A good approximation is
BT = 0.511 + r2D
where D is the modulation rate. For NRZ,
and we have
D = R,
R
2
BT =
1 + r
Thus digital signaling is in the same ballpark, in terms of bandwidth efficiency, as
ASK, FSK, and PSK. A significant advantage for analog signaling is seen with multi-
level techniques.
5.2 / DIGITAL DATA, ANALOG SIGNALS
161
Quadrature Amplitude Modulation
Quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) is a popular analog signaling technique
that is used in the asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL), described in Chapter 8,
and in some wireless standards. This modulation technique is a combination of ASK
and PSK. QAM can also be considered a logical extension of QPSK. QAM takes
advantage of the fact that it is possible to send two different signals simultaneously
on the same carrier frequency, by using two copies of the carrier frequency, one
shifted by 90° with respect to the other. For QAM, each carrier is ASK modu-
lated. The two independent signals are simultaneously transmitted over the same
medium. At the receiver, the two signals are demodulated and the results combined
to produce the original binary input.
Figure 5.14 shows the QAM modulation scheme in general terms. The input is a
stream of binary digits arriving at a rate of R bps. This stream is converted into two
separate bit streams of R/2 bps each, by taking alternate bits for the two streams. In
the diagram, the upper stream is ASK modulated on a carrier of frequency f by mul-
c
tiplying the bit stream by the carrier. Thus, a binary zero is represented by the absence
of the carrier wave and a binary one is represented by the presence of the carrier wave
at a constant amplitude. This same carrier wave is shifted by 90° and used for ASK
modulation of the lower binary stream. The two modulated signals are then added
together and transmitted. The transmitted signal can be expressed as follows:
QAM s1t2 = d11t2cos 2pfct + d21t2sin 2pfct
If two-level ASK is used, then each of the two streams can be in one of two states
and the combined stream can be in one of
states. This is essentially QPSK.
4 = 2 * 2
If four-level ASK is used (i.e., four different amplitude levels), then the combined
stream can be in one of
states. Systems using 64 and even 256 states have
16 = 4 * 4
been implemented. The greater the number of states, the higher the data rate that is
possible within a given bandwidth. Of course, as discussed previously, the greater the
number of states, the higher the potential error rate due to noise and attenuation.
d1(t)
R/2 bps
cos 2Pfct
Carrier
Binary
oscillator
QAM
input
2-bit
signal out
serial-to-parallel
d(t)
s(t)
converter
R bps
Phase
P/2
shift
sin 2Pfct
d2(t)
R/2 bps
Figure 5.14
QAM Modulator
162
CHAPTER 5 / SIGNAL ENCODING TECHNIQUES
5.3
ANALOG DATA, DIGITAL SIGNALS
In this section we examine the process of transforming analog data into digital sig-
nals. Strictly speaking, it might be more correct to refer to this as a process of con-
verting analog data into digital data; this process is known as digitization. Once
analog data have been converted into digital data, a number of things can happen.
The three most common are as follows:
1. The digital data can be transmitted using NRZ-L. In this case, we have in fact
gone directly from analog data to a digital signal.
2. The digital data can be encoded as a digital signal using a code other than
NRZ-L. Thus an extra step is required.
3. The digital data can be converted into an analog signal, using one of the mod-
ulation techniques discussed in Section 5.2.
This last, seemingly curious, procedure is illustrated in Figure 5.15, which
shows voice data that are digitized and then converted to an analog ASK signal.
This allows digital transmission in the sense defined in Chapter 3. The voice data,
because they have been digitized, can be treated as digital data, even though trans-
mission requirements (e.g., use of microwave) dictate that an analog signal be
used.
The device used for converting analog data into digital form for transmission,
and subsequently recovering the original analog data from the digital, is known as a
codec (coder-decoder). In this section we examine the two principal techniques used
in codecs, pulse code modulation and delta modulation. The section closes with a
discussion of comparative performance.
Pulse Code Modulation
Pulse code modulation (PCM) is based on the sampling theorem:
SAMPLING THEOREM: If a signal f(t) is sampled at regular intervals of time
and at a rate higher than twice the highest signal frequency, then the samples con-
tain all the information of the original signal. The function f(t) may be recon-
structed from these samples by the use of a lowpass filter.
Digitizer
Modulator
Analog data
Digital data
Analog signal
(voice)
(ASK)
Figure 5.15
Digitizing Analog Data
5.3 / ANALOG DATA, DIGITAL SIGNALS
163
Code
number
16
15
15
14
14
13
13
12
12
11
11
10
10
9
9
8
8
7
7
6
6
5
5
4
4
3
3
2
2
1
1
0
0
Ts
Time
1/(2B)
PAM value
1.1
9.2
15.2
10.8
5.6
2.8
2.7
Quantized code number
1
9
15
10
5
2
2
PCM code
0001
1001
1111
1010
0101
0010
0010
Figure 5.16
Pulse Code Modulation Example
For the interested reader, a proof is provided in Appendix F. If voice data are
limited to frequencies below 4000 Hz, a conservative procedure for intelligibility,
8000 samples per second would be sufficient to characterize the voice signal com-
pletely. Note, however, that these are analog samples, called pulse amplitude
modulation (PAM) samples. To convert to digital, each of these analog samples
must be assigned a binary code.
Figure 5.16 shows an example in which the original signal is assumed to be
bandlimited with a bandwidth of B. PAM samples are taken at a rate of 2B, or
once every
seconds. Each PAM sample is approximated by being
T
s
= 1/2B
quantized into one of 16 different levels. Each sample can then be represented by
4 bits. But because the quantized values are only approximations, it is impossible
to recover the original signal exactly. By using an 8-bit sample, which allows
256 quantizing levels, the quality of the recovered voice signal is comparable with
that achieved via analog transmission. Note that this implies that a data rate of
8000 samples per second
bits per sample
is needed for a single
* 8
= 64 kbps
voice signal.
Thus, PCM starts with a continuous-time, continuous-amplitude (analog)
signal, from which a digital signal is produced (Figure 5.17). The digital signal
consists of blocks of n bits, where each n-bit number is the amplitude of a PCM
pulse. On reception, the process is reversed to reproduce the analog signal.
Notice, however, that this process violates the terms of the sampling theorem. By
quantizing the PAM pulse, the original signal is now only approximated and can-
not be recovered exactly. This effect is known as quantizing error or quantizing
164
CHAPTER 5 / SIGNAL ENCODING TECHNIQUES
PAM
Quantizer
Encoder
sampler
Continuous-time,
Discrete-time
Discrete-time
Digital bit
continuous-amplitude
continuous-amplitude
discrete-amplitude
stream output
(analog) input signal
signal (PAM pulses)
signal (PCM pulses)
signal
Figure 5.17
PCM Block Diagram
noise. The signal-to-noise ratio for quantizing noise can be expressed as
[GIBS93]
SNRdB = 20 log 2n + 1.76 dB = 6.02n + 1.76 dB
Thus each additional bit used for quantizing increases SNR by about 6 dB, which is
a factor of 4.
Typically, the PCM scheme is refined using a technique known as nonlinear
encoding, which means, in effect, that the quantization levels are not equally
spaced. The problem with equal spacing is that the mean absolute error for each
sample is the same, regardless of signal level. Consequently, lower amplitude values
are relatively more distorted. By using a greater number of quantizing steps for sig-
nals of low amplitude, and a smaller number of quantizing steps for signals of large
amplitude, a marked reduction in overall signal distortion is achieved (e.g., see
Figure 5.18).
The same effect can be achieved by using uniform quantizing but compand-
ing (compressing-expanding) the input analog signal. Companding is a process
that compresses the intensity range of a signal by imparting more gain to weak sig-
nals than to strong signals on input.At output, the reverse operation is performed.
Figure 5.19 shows typical companding functions. Note that the effect on the input
side is to compress the sample so that the higher values are reduced with respect
Quantizing
levels
Strong signal
Weak signal
15
15
14
14
13
12
13
11
12
10
11
9
10
8
9
8
7
7
6
6
5
5
4
4
3
3
2
2
1
1
0
0
(a) Without nonlinear encoding
(b) With nonlinear encoding
Figure 5.18
Effect of Nonlinear Coding
5.3 / ANALOG DATA, DIGITAL SIGNALS
165
1.0
0.8
Strong
companding
0.6
Moderate
companding
0.4
No companding
0.2
0.0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
Input signal magnitude
Figure 5.19
Typical Companding Functions
to the lower values.Thus, with a fixed number of quantizing levels, more levels are
available for lower-level signals. On the output side, the compander expands the
samples so the compressed values are restored to their original values.
Nonlinear encoding can significantly improve the PCM SNR ratio. For voice
signals, improvements of 24 to 30 dB have been achieved.
Delta Modulation (DM)
A variety of techniques have been used to improve the performance of PCM or to
reduce its complexity. One of the most popular alternatives to PCM is delta modu-
lation (DM).
With delta modulation, an analog input is approximated by a staircase function
that moves up or down by one quantization level
at each sampling interval
1T
s
1d2
2.
An example is shown in Figure 5.20, where the staircase function is overlaid on the
original analog waveform. The important characteristic of this staircase function is
that its behavior is binary: At each sampling time, the function moves up or down a
constant amount d. Thus, the output of the delta modulation process can be repre-
sented as a single binary digit for each sample. In essence, a bit stream is produced by
approximating the derivative of an analog signal rather than its amplitude: A 1 is gen-
erated if the staircase function is to go up during the next interval; a 0 is generated
otherwise.
166
CHAPTER 5 / SIGNAL ENCODING TECHNIQUES
Signal
Analog
Staircase
amplitude
input
function
Slope
overload
noise
Step
Quantizing
size
d
noise
Time
Ts
Sampling
time
Delta
1
modulation
output
0
Figure 5.20
Example of Delta Modulation
The transition (up or down) that occurs at each sampling interval is chosen so
that the staircase function tracks the original analog waveform as closely as possible.
Figure 5.21 illustrates the logic of the process, which is essentially a feedback mech-
anism. For transmission, the following occurs: At each sampling time, the analog
input is compared to the most recent value of the approximating staircase function.
If the value of the sampled waveform exceeds that of the staircase function, a 1 is
generated; otherwise, a 0 is generated. Thus, the staircase is always changed in the
direction of the input signal. The output of the DM process is therefore a binary
sequence that can be used at the receiver to reconstruct the staircase function. The
staircase function can then be smoothed by some type of integration process or by
passing it through a lowpass filter to produce an analog approximation of the analog
input signal.
There are two important parameters in a DM scheme: the size of the step
assigned to each binary digit, d, and the sampling rate. As Figure 5.20 illustrates,
d
must be chosen to produce a balance between two types of errors or noise. When the
analog waveform is changing very slowly, there will be quantizing noise. This noise
increases as d is increased. On the other hand, when the analog waveform is chang-
ing more rapidly than the staircase can follow, there is slope overload noise. This
noise increases as d is decreased.
It should be clear that the accuracy of the scheme can be improved by
increasing the sampling rate. However, this increases the data rate of the output
signal.
5.3 / ANALOG DATA, DIGITAL SIGNALS
167
Analog
input
Binary
output
Comparator
1
D
0
D
Reconstructed
Delay of
waveform
one time
unit
(a) Transmission
Binary
1
D
input
0
D
Reconstructed
waveform
Delay of
one time
unit
(b) Reception
Figure 5.21
Delta Modulation
The principal advantage of DM over PCM is the simplicity of its implementa-
tion. In general, PCM exhibits better SNR characteristics at the same data rate.
Performance
Good voice reproduction via PCM can be achieved with 128 quantization levels, or
7-bit coding
A voice signal, conservatively, occupies a bandwidth of
127 = 1282.
4 kHz. Thus, according to the sampling theorem, samples should be taken at a rate of
8000 samples per second. This implies a data rate of
for the
8000 * 7 = 56 kbps
PCM-encoded digital data.
Consider what this means from the point of view of bandwidth requirement.
An analog voice signal occupies 4 kHz. Using PCM this 4-kHz analog signal can
be converted into a 56-kbps digital signal. But using the Nyquist criterion from
Chapter 3, this digital signal could require on the order of 28 kHz of bandwidth.
Even more severe differences are seen with higher bandwidth signals. For example,
a common PCM scheme for color television uses 10-bit codes, which works out to
92 Mbps for a 4.6-MHz bandwidth signal. In spite of these numbers, digital tech-
niques continue to grow in popularity for transmitting analog data. The principal
reasons for this are as follows:
168
CHAPTER 5 / SIGNAL ENCODING TECHNIQUES
• Because repeaters are used instead of amplifiers, there is no cumulative noise.
• As we shall see, time division multiplexing (TDM) is used for digital signals
instead of the frequency division multiplexing (FDM) used for analog signals.
With TDM, there is no intermodulation noise, whereas we have seen that this
is a concern for FDM.
• The conversion to digital signaling allows the use of the more efficient digital
switching techniques.
Furthermore, techniques have been developed to provide more efficient
codes. In the case of voice, a reasonable goal appears to be in the neighborhood of
4 kbps. With video, advantage can be taken of the fact that from frame to frame,
most picture elements will not change. Interframe coding techniques should allow
the video requirement to be reduced to about 15 Mbps, and for slowly changing
scenes, such as found in a video teleconference, down to 64 kbps or less.
As a final point, we mention that in many instances, the use of a telecommuni-
cations system will result in both digital-to-analog and analog-to-digital processing.
The overwhelming majority of local terminations into the telecommunications
network is analog, and the network itself uses a mixture of analog and digital
techniques. Thus digital data at a user’s terminal may be converted to analog by a
modem, subsequently digitized by a codec, and perhaps suffer repeated conversions
before reaching its destination.
Thus, telecommunication facilities handle analog signals that represent both
voice and digital data. The characteristics of the waveforms are quite different.
Whereas voice signals tend to be skewed to the lower portion of the bandwidth
(Figure 3.9), analog encoding of digital signals has a more uniform spectral content
over the bandwidth and therefore contains more high-frequency components.
Studies have shown that, because of the presence of these higher frequencies,
PCM-related techniques are preferable to DM-related techniques for digitizing
analog signals that represent digital data.
5.4
ANALOG DATA, ANALOG SIGNALS
Modulation has been defined as the process of combining an input signal m(t) and a
carrier at frequency f to produce a signal s(t) whose bandwidth is (usually) cen-
c
tered on
For digital data, the motivation for modulation should be clear: When
fc .
only analog transmission facilities are available, modulation is required to convert
the digital data to analog form. The motivation when the data are already analog is
less clear. After all, voice signals are transmitted over telephone lines at their origi-
nal spectrum (referred to as baseband transmission). There are two principal rea-
sons for analog modulation of analog signals:
• A higher frequency may be needed for effective transmission. For unguided
transmission, it is virtually impossible to transmit baseband signals; the
required antennas would be many kilometers in diameter.
• Modulation permits frequency division multiplexing, an important technique
explored in Chapter 8.
5.4 / ANALOG DATA, ANALOG SIGNALS
169
In this section we look at the principal techniques for modulation using analog
data: amplitude modulation (AM), frequency modulation (FM), and phase modulation
(PM). As before, the three basic characteristics of a signal are used for modulation.
Amplitude Modulation
Amplitude modulation (AM) is the simplest form of modulation and is depicted in
Figure 5.22. Mathematically, the process can be expressed as
AM s1t2 = [1 + nax1t2]cos 2pfct
(5.12)
where
is the carrier and x(t) is the input signal (carrying data), both nor-
cos 2pfct
malized to unity amplitude. The parameter
known as the modulation index, is
na,
the ratio of the amplitude of the input signal to the carrier. Corresponding to our
previous notation, the input signal is
The “1” in the Equation (5.12)
m1t2 = nax1t2.
is a dc component that prevents loss of information, as explained subsequently. This
scheme is also known as double sideband transmitted carrier (DSBTC).
EXAMPLE 5.4 Derive an expression for s(t) if x(t) is the amplitude-modulat-
ing signal
cos 2pfmt.
We have
s1t2 = [1 + na cos 2pfmt]cos 2pfct
By trigonometric identity, this may be expanded to
na
n
a
s1t2 = cos 2pfct +
fm2t +
fm2t
2 cos 2p1fc -
2 cos 2p1fc +
The resulting signal has a component at the original carrier frequency plus a
pair of components each spaced f hertz from the carrier.
m
From Equation (5.12) and Figure 5.22, it can be seen that AM involves the mul-
tiplication of the input signal by the carrier. The envelope of the resulting signal is
[1 + n
a
x1t2] and, as long as
na
6 1,
the envelope is an exact reproduction of the
original signal. If
na 7 1,
the envelope will cross the time axis and information is lost.
It is instructive to look at the spectrum of the AM signal. An example is shown
in Figure 5.23. The spectrum consists of the original carrier plus the spectrum of the
input signal translated to
fc .
The portion of the spectrum for
ƒ fƒ
7 ƒfcƒ
is the upper
sideband, and the portion of the spectrum for
ƒ fƒ
6 ƒfcƒ
is lower sideband. Both the
upper and lower sidebands are replicas of the original spectrum M(f ), with the
lower sideband being frequency reversed. As an example, consider a voice signal
with a bandwidth that extends from 300 to 3000 Hz being modulated on a 60-kHz
carrier. The resulting signal contains an upper sideband of 60.3 to 63 kHz, a lower
sideband of 57 to 59.7 kHz, and the 60-kHz carrier. An important relationship is
2
n
a
P
t
= Pca1 +
2 b
170
CHAPTER 5 / SIGNAL ENCODING TECHNIQUES
m(t)
t
(a) Sinusoidal modulating wave
[1
m(t)]
S(t)
Amax
1
Amin
t
(b) Resulting AM signal
Figure 5.22
Amplitude Modulation
M(f)
f
0
B
(a) Spectrum of modulating signal
S(f)
Discrete carrier
term
Lower
Upper
sideband
sideband
f
0
fc
B
fc
fc
B
(b) Spectrum of AM signal with carrier at fc
Figure 5.23
Spectrum of an AM Signal
5.4 / ANALOG DATA, ANALOG SIGNALS
171
where P is the total transmitted power in s(t) and P is the transmitted power in the
t
c
carrier. We would like n as large as possible so that most of the signal power is used
a
to carry information. However,n must remain below 1.
a
It should be clear that s(t) contains unnecessary components, because each of
the sidebands contains the complete spectrum of m(t). A popular variant of AM,
known as single sideband (SSB), takes advantage of this fact by sending only one of
the sidebands, eliminating the other sideband and the carrier. The principal advan-
tages of this approach are as follows:
• Only half the bandwidth is required, that is,
where B is the bandwidth
BT = B,
of the original signal. For DSBTC,
BT = 2B.
• Less power is required because no power is used to transmit the carrier or the
other sideband. Another variant is double sideband suppressed carrier
(DSBSC), which filters out the carrier frequency and sends both sidebands.
This saves some power but uses as much bandwidth as DSBTC.
The disadvantage of suppressing the carrier is that the carrier can be used for
synchronization purposes. For example, suppose that the original analog signal is an
ASK waveform encoding digital data. The receiver needs to know the starting point
of each bit time to interpret the data correctly. A constant carrier provides a clock-
ing mechanism by which to time the arrival of bits. A compromise approach is vesti-
gial sideband (VSB), which uses one sideband and a reduced-power carrier.
Angle Modulation
Frequency modulation (FM) and phase modulation (PM) are special cases of angle
modulation. The modulated signal is expressed as
Angle Modulation
s1t2 = Ac cos[2pfct
+ f1t2]
(5.13)
For phase modulation, the phase is proportional to the modulating signal:
PM f1t2 = npm1t2
(5.14)
where n is the phase modulation index.
p
For frequency modulation, the derivative of the phase is proportional to the
modulating signal:
FM f¿1t2 = nfm1t2
(5.15)
where n is the frequency modulation index and
is the derivative of
f¿1t2
f1t2.
f
For those who wish a more detailed mathematical explanation of the preced-
ing, consider the following. The phase of s(t) at any instant is just
The
2pfct + f1t2.
instantaneous phase deviation from the carrier signal is
In PM, this instanta-
f1t2.
neous phase deviation is proportional to m(t). Because frequency can be defined as
the rate of change of phase of a signal, the instantaneous frequency of s(t) is
2pf
i1t2
= d
[2pfct + f1t2]
dt
1
f
i1t2
= fc +
2pf¿1t2
172
CHAPTER 5 / SIGNAL ENCODING TECHNIQUES
and the instantaneous frequency deviation from the carrier frequency is
f¿1t2,
which in FM is proportional to m(t).
Figure 5.24 illustrates amplitude, phase, and frequency modulation by a sine
wave. The shapes of the FM and PM signals are very similar. Indeed, it is impossible
to tell them apart without knowledge of the modulation function.
Several observations about the FM process are in order. The peak deviation
¢F can be seen to be
1
¢F =
2pnfAm Hz
where
is the maximum value of m(t). Thus an increase in the magnitude of m(t)
Am
will increase
which, intuitively, should increase the transmitted bandwidth
BT .
¢F,
However, as should be apparent from Figure 5.24, this will not increase the average
power level of the FM signal, which is
This is distinctly different from AM,
A2>2.
where the level of modulation affects the power in the AM signal but does not affect
its bandwidth.
EXAMPLE 5.5 Derive an expression for s(t) if
is the phase-modulating sig-
f1t2
nal
Assume that
This can be seen directly to be
n
Ac
= 1.
p cos 2pfmt.
s1t2 = cos[2pfct + np cos 2pfmt]
The instantaneous phase deviation from the carrier signal is
The
np cos 2pfmt.
phase angle of the signal varies from its unmodulated value in a simple sinusoidal
fashion, with the peak phase deviation equal to
np.
The preceding expression can be expanded using Bessel’s trigonometric
identities:
q
np
s1t2 =
a
Jn1np2 cos a 2pfct + 2pnfmt +
n=-q
2 b
where
is the nth-order Bessel function of the first kind. Using the property
Jn1np2
J-n1x2 = 1 - 12nJn1x2
this can be rewritten as
q
np
s1t2 = J01np2 cos 2pfct +
aJn1np2 c cos a 2p1fc + nfm2t +
n=1
2 b
1n + 22p
+ cos a 2p1f
c
- nfm2t +
bd
2
The resulting signal has a component at the original carrier frequency plus a set
of sidebands displaced from fc by all possible multiples of
f
For
np
V 1,
the
m.
higher-order terms fall off rapidly.
5.4 / ANALOG DATA, ANALOG SIGNALS
173
Carrier
Modulating sine-wave signal
Amplitude-modulated (DSBTC) wave
Phase-modulated wave
Frequency-modulated wave
Figure 5.24
Amplitude, Phase, and Frequency Modulation of a Sine-Wave Carrier
by a Sine-Wave Signal
174
CHAPTER 5 / SIGNAL ENCODING TECHNIQUES
EXAMPLE 5.6 Derive an expression for s(t) if
f¿1t2
is the frequency modulating
signal
-nf sin 2pfmt.The form of
f¿1t2
was chosen for convenience. We have
nf
f1t2 = -
nf sin 2pfmt dt =
cos 2pfmt
L
2pf
m
Thus
nf
s1t2 = cos c 2pfct +
cos 2pfmt d
2pf
m
¢F
= cos c 2pfct +
cos 2pfmt d
f
m
The instantaneous frequency deviation from the carrier signal is
t. The frequency of the signal varies from its unmodulated value in a
-nf sin 2pfm
simple sinusoidal fashion, with the peak frequency deviation equal to n radians/
f
second.
The equation for the FM signal has the identical form as for the PM signal,
with
¢F/fm
substituted for np.Thus the Bessel expansion is the same.
As with AM, both FM and PM result in a signal whose bandwidth is cen-
tered at
However, we can now see that the magnitude of that bandwidth is
fc .
very different. Amplitude modulation is a linear process and produces fre-
quencies that are the sum and difference of the carrier signal and the compo-
nents of the modulating signal. Hence, for AM,
BT = 2B
However, angle modulation includes a term of the form
which is non-
cos1f1t22,
linear and will produce a wide range of frequencies. In essence, for a modulating
sinusoid of frequency
s(t) will contain components at
fm ,
fc + fm , fc + 2fm ,
and so on. In the most general case, infinite bandwidth is required to transmit an
FM or PM signal. As a practical matter, a very good rule of thumb, known as
Carson’s rule [COUC01], is
BT = 21b + 12B
where
npAm
for PM
¢F
nfA
m
b = c
for FM
B =
2pB
We can rewrite the formula for FM as
BT = 2
¢F + 2B
(5.16)
Thus both FM and PM require greater bandwidth than AM.
5.6 / KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
175
5.5
RECOMMENDED READING
It is difficult, for some reason, to find solid treatments of digital-to-digital encoding schemes.
Useful accounts include [SKLA01] and [BERG96].
There are many good references on analog modulation schemes for digital data. Good
choices are [COUC01], [XION00], and [PROA05]; these three also provide comprehensive
treatment of digital and analog modulation schemes for analog data.
An instructive treatment of the concepts of bit rate, baud, and bandwidth is [FREE98].
A recommended tutorial that expands on the concepts treated in the past few chapters
relating to bandwidth efficiency and encoding schemes is [SKLA93].
BERG96
Bergmans, J. Digital Baseband Transmission and Recording. Boston: Kluwer,
1996.
COUC01
Couch, L. Digital and Analog Communication Systems. Upper Saddle River,
NJ: Prentice Hall, 2001.
FREE98
Freeman, R. “Bits, Symbols, Baud, and Bandwidth.” IEEE Communications
Magazine, April 1998.
PROA05
Proakis, J. Fundamentals of Communication Systems. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice Hall, 2005.
SKLA93
Sklar, B. “Defining, Designing, and Evaluating Digital Communication Sys-
tems.” IEEE Communications Magazine, November 1993.
SKLA01
Sklar, B. Digital Communications: Fundamentals and Applications. Englewood
Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2001.
XION00
Xiong, F. Digital Modulation Techniques. Boston: Artech House, 2000.
5.6
KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
Key Terms
alternate mark inversion
differential encoding
nonreturn to zero-level
(AMI)
differential Manchester
(NRZ-L)
amplitude modulation (AM)
differential PSK (DPSK)
phase modulation (PM)
amplitude shift keying
frequency modulation (FM)
phase shift keying (PSK)
(ASK)
frequency shift keying
polar
angle modulation
(FSK)
pseudoternary
bandwidth efficiency
high-density bipolar-3 zeros
pulse amplitude modulation
baseband signal
(HDB3)
(PAM)
biphase
Manchester
pulse code modulation
bipolar-AMI
modulation
(PCM)
bipolar with 8-zeros
modulation rate
quadrature amplitude modu-
substitution (B8ZS)
multilevel binary
lation (QAM)
bit error rate (BER)
nonreturn to zero (NRZ)
quadrature PSK (QPSK)
carrier frequency
nonreturn to zero, inverted
scrambling
delta modulation (DM)
(NRZI)
unipolar
176
CHAPTER 5 / SIGNAL ENCODING TECHNIQUES
Review Questions
5.1. List and briefly define important factors that can be used in evaluating or comparing
the various digital-to-digital encoding techniques.
5.2. What is differential encoding?
5.3. Explain the difference between NRZ-L and NRZI.
5.4. Describe two multilevel binary digital-to-digital encoding techniques.
5.5. Define biphase encoding and describe two biphase encoding techniques.
5.6. Explain the function of scrambling in the context of digital-to-digital encoding
techniques.
5.7. What function does a modem perform?
5.8. How are binary values represented in amplitude shift keying, and what is the limita-
tion of this approach?
5.9. What is the difference between QPSK and offset QPSK?
5.10. What is QAM?
5.11. What does the sampling theorem tell us concerning the rate of sampling required for
an analog signal?
5.12. What are the differences among angle modulation, PM, and FM?
Problems
5.1
Which of the signals of Table 5.2 use differential encoding?
5.2
Develop algorithms for generating each of the codes of Table 5.2 from NRZ-L.
5.3
A modified NRZ code known as enhanced-NRZ (E-NRZ) is sometimes used for
high-density magnetic tape recording. E-NRZ encoding entails separating the
NRZ-L data stream into 7-bit words; inverting bits 2, 3, 6, and 7; and adding one
parity bit to each word. The parity bit is chosen to make the total number of 1s in
the 8-bit word an odd count.What are the advantages of E-NRZ over NRZ-L? Any
disadvantages?
5.4
Develop a state diagram (finite state machine) representation of pseudoternary coding.
5.5
Consider the following signal encoding technique. Binary data are presented as input,
for
Two levels of processing occur. First, a new set of binary num-
a
m = 1, 2, 3, Á
m,
bers are produced:
b0 = 0
bm = 1am + bm - 12mod 2
These are then encoded as
cm = bm - bm - 1
On reception, the original data are recovered by
am = cm mod 2
a. Verify that the received values of
equal the transmitted values of
am
am.
b. What sort of encoding is this?
5.6
For the bit stream 01001110, sketch the waveforms for each of the codes of Table 5.2.
Assume that the signal level for the preceding bit for NRZI was high; the most recent
preceding 1 bit (AMI) has a negative voltage; and the most recent preceding 0 bit
(pseudoternary) has a negative voltage.
5.7
The waveform of Figure 5.25 belongs to a Manchester encoded binary data stream.
Determine the beginning and end of bit periods (i.e., extract clock information) and
give the data sequence.
5.6 / KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
177
Figure 5.25
A Manchester Stream
5.8
Consider a stream of binary data consisting of a long sequence of 1s followed by a
zero followed by a long string of 1s, with the same assumptions as Problem 5.6. Draw
the waveform for this sequence using
a. NRZ-L
b. Bipolar-AMI
c. Pseudoternary
5.9
The bipolar-AMI waveform representing the binary sequence 0100101011 is trans-
mitted over a noisy channel. The received waveform is shown in Figure 5.26; it
contains a single error. Locate the position of this error and explain your answer.
5.10
One positive side effect of bipolar encoding is that a bipolar violation (two consecutive
pulses or two consecutive pulses separated by any number of zeros) indicates to
+
the receiver that an error has occurred in transmission. Unfortunately, upon the
receipt of such a violation, the receiver does not know which bit is in error (only that
an error has occurred). For the received bipolar sequence
+ - 0 + - 0 - +
which has one bipolar violation, construct two scenarios (each of which involves a dif-
ferent transmitted bit stream with one transmitted bit being converted via an error)
that will produce this same received bit pattern.
5.11
Given the bit pattern 01100, encode this data using ASK, BFSK, and BPSK.
5.12
A sine wave is to be used for two different signaling schemes: (a) PSK; (b) QPSK. The
duration of a signal element is
10-5 s.
If the received signal is of the following form:
s1t2 = 0.005 sin12p 106t + u2 volts
and if the measured noise power at the receiver is
2.5 * 10-8 watts,
determine the
Eb/N0
(in dB) for each case.
5.13
Derive an expression for baud rate D as a function of bit rate R for QPSK using the
digital encoding techniques of Table 5.2.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Figure 5.26
A Received Bipolar-AMI Waveform
178
CHAPTER 5 / SIGNAL ENCODING TECHNIQUES
Lowpass
y1(t)
d1(t)/2
filter
cos 2Pfct
Carrier
QAM
oscillator
signal in
s(t)
Phase
P/2
shift
sin 2Pfct
Lowpass
y2(t)
d2(t)/2
filter
Figure 5.27
QAM Demodulator
5.14
What SNR ratio is required to achieve a bandwidth efficiency of 1.0 for ASK, FSK,
PSK, and QPSK? Assume that the required bit error rate is
10-6.
5.15
An NRZ-L signal is passed through a filter with
and then modulated onto a
r = 0.5
carrier. The data rate is 2400 bps. Evaluate the bandwidth for ASK and FSK. For FSK
assume that the two frequencies used are 50 kHz and 55 kHz.
5.16
Assume that a telephone line channel is equalized to allow bandpass data transmis-
sion over a frequency range of 600 to 3000 Hz. The available bandwidth is 2400 Hz.
For
evaluate the required bandwidth for 2400 bps QPSK and 4800-bps, eight-
r = 1,
level multilevel signaling. Is the bandwidth adequate?
5.17
Figure 5.27 shows the QAM demodulator corresponding to the QAM modulator of
Figure 5.14. Show that this arrangement does recover the two signals
and
d
d21t2,
11t2
which can be combined to recover the original input.
5.18
Why should PCM be preferable to DM for encoding analog signals that represent
digital data?
5.19
Are the modem and the codec functional inverses (i.e., could an inverted modem
function as a codec, or vice versa)?
5.20
A signal is quantized using 10-bit PCM. Find the signal-to-quantization noise ratio.
5.21
Consider an audio signal with spectral components in the range 300 to 3000 Hz.
Assume that a sampling rate of 7000 samples per second will be used to generate a
PCM signal.
a. For
what is the number of uniform quantization levels needed?
SNR = 30 dB,
b. What data rate is required?
5.22
Find the step size d required to prevent slope overload noise as a function of the fre-
quency of the highest-frequency component of the signal. Assume that all compo-
nents have amplitude A.
5.23
A PCM encoder accepts a signal with a full-scale voltage of 10 V and generates 8-bit
codes using uniform quantization. The maximum normalized quantized voltage is
Determine (a) normalized step size, (b) actual step size in volts, (c) actual
1 - 2-8.
maximum quantized level in volts, (d) normalized resolution, (e) actual resolution,
and (f) percentage resolution.
5.24
The analog waveform shown in Figure 5.28 is to be delta modulated. The sampling
period and the step size are indicated by the grid on the figure. The first DM output and
the staircase function for this period are also shown. Show the rest of the staircase func-
tion and give the DM output. Indicate regions where slope overload distortion exists.
5.6 / KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
179
DM output
1
0
Figure 5.28
Delta Modulation Example
5.25
Consider the angle-modulated signal
s1t2 = 10 cos[11082pt + 5 sin 2p11032t]
Find the maximum phase deviation and the maximum frequency deviation.
5.26
Consider the angle-modulated signal
s1t2 = 10 cos[2p11062t + 0.1 sin11032pt]
a. Express s(t) as a PM signal with
np = 10.
b. Express s(t) as an FM signal with
nf = 10p.
5.27
Let
m11t2
and
m
2
1t2
be message signals and let
s
1
1t2
and
s21t2
be the corresponding
modulated signals using a carrier frequency of
fc .
a. Show that if simple AM modulation is used, then
produces a mod-
m11t2 + m21t2
ulated signal equal that is a linear combination of
and
This is why AM
s
s21t2.
11t2
is sometimes referred to as linear modulation.
b. Show that if simple PM modulation is used, then
m11t2 + m21t2
produces a mod-
ulated signal that is not a linear combination of
s
and
s21t2.
This is why angle
11t2
modulation is sometimes referred to as nonlinear modulation.
CHAPTER6
DIGITAL DATA COMMUNICATION
TECHNIQUES
6.1
Asynchronous and Synchronous Transmission
6.2
Types of Errors
6.3
Error Detection
6.4
Error Correction
6.5
Line Configurations
6.6
Recommended Reading
6.7
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
180
A conversation forms a two-way communication link; there is a measure of symme-
try between the two parties, and messages pass to and fro.There is a continual stim-
ulus-response, cyclic action; remarks call up other remarks, and the behavior of the
two individuals becomes concerted, co-operative, and directed toward some goal.
This is true communication.
—On Human Communication, Colin Cherry
KEY POINTS
•
The transmission of a stream of bits from one device to another
across a transmission link involves a great deal of cooperation and
agreement between the two sides. One of the most fundamental
requirements is synchronization. The receiver must know the rate at
which bits are being received so that it can sample the line at appro-
priate intervals to determine the value of each received bit.Two tech-
niques are in common use for this purpose. In asynchronous
transmission, each character of data is treated independently. Each
character begins with a start bit that alerts the receiver that a charac-
ter is arriving.The receiver samples each bit in the character and then
looks for the beginning of the next character. This technique would
not work well for long blocks of data because the receiver’s clock
might eventually drift out of synchronization with the transmitter’s
clock. However, sending data in large blocks is more efficient than
sending data one character at a time. For large blocks, synchronous
transmission is used. Each block of data is formatted as a frame that
includes a starting and an ending flag. Some form of synchronization,
such as the use of Manchester encoding, is employed.
•
Error detection is performed by calculating an error-detecting code
that is a function of the bits being transmitted.The code is appended
to the transmitted bits.The receiver calculates the code based on the
incoming bits and compares it to the incoming code to check for
errors.
•
Error correction operates in a fashion similar to error detection but is
capable of correcting certain errors in a transmitted bit stream.
The preceding three chapters have been concerned primarily with the
attributes of data transmission, such as the characteristics of data signals
and transmission media, the encoding of signals, and transmission perform-
ance. In this chapter, we shift our emphasis from data transmission to data
communications.
181
182
CHAPTER 6 / DIGITAL DATA COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUES
For two devices linked by a transmission medium to exchange data, a
high degree of cooperation is required. Typically, data are transmitted one bit
at a time over the medium. The timing (rate, duration, spacing) of these bits
must be the same for transmitter and receiver. Two common techniques for
controlling this timing—asynchronous and synchronous—are explored in
Section 6.1. Next, we look at the problem of bit errors. As we have seen, data
transmission is not an error-free process, and some means of accounting for
these errors is needed. After a brief discussion of the distinction between sin-
gle-bit errors and burst errors, the chapter turns to two approaches to dealing
with errors: error detection and error correction.
Next, the chapter provides an overview of the types of line configurations
in common use. To supplement the material in this chapter, Appendix G looks at
the physical interface between data transmitting devices and the transmission
line. Typically, digital data devices do not attach to and signal across the medium
directly. Instead, this process is mediated through a standardized interface that
provides considerable control over the interaction between the transmitting/
receiving devices and the transmission line.
6.1
ASYNCHRONOUS AND SYNCHRONOUS TRANSMISSION
In this book, we are primarily concerned with serial transmission of data; that is,
data are transferred over a single signal path rather than a parallel set of lines, as is
common with I/O devices and internal computer signal paths. With serial transmis-
sion, signaling elements are sent down the line one at a time. Each signaling element
may be
• Less than one bit: This is the case, for example, with Manchester coding.
• One bit: NRZ-L and FSK are digital and analog examples, respectively.
• More than one bit: QPSK is an example.
For simplicity in the following discussion, we assume one bit per signal-
ing element unless otherwise stated. The discussion is not materially affected by
this simplification.
Recall from Figure 3.16 that the reception of digital data involves sampling
the incoming signal once per bit time to determine the binary value. One of the
difficulties encountered in such a process is that various transmission impairments
will corrupt the signal so that occasional errors will occur. This problem is com-
pounded by a timing difficulty: In order for the receiver to sample the incoming
bits properly, it must know the arrival time and duration of each bit that it
receives.
Suppose that the sender simply transmits a stream of data bits. The sender has
a clock that governs the timing of the transmitted bits. For example, if data are to be
transmitted at one million bits per second (1 Mbps), then one bit will be transmitted
every
microsecond
as measured by the sender’s clock. Typically,
1/106 = 1
1ms2,
the receiver will attempt to sample the medium at the center of each bit time. The
receiver will time its samples at intervals of one bit time. In our example, the
6.1 / ASYNCHRONOUS AND SYNCHRONOUS TRANSMISSION
183
sampling would occur once every
If the receiver times its samples based on its
1 ms.
own clock, then there will be a problem if the transmitter’s and receiver’s clocks are
not precisely aligned. If there is a drift of 1% (the receiver’s clock is 1% faster or
slower than the transmitter’s clock), then the first sampling will be 0.01 of a bit time
away from the center of the bit (center of bit is
from beginning and
10.01 ms2
0.5 ms
end of bit). After 50 or more samples, the receiver may be in error because it is sam-
pling in the wrong bit time
For smaller timing differences, the
150 * .01 = 0.5 ms2.
error would occur later, but eventually the receiver will be out of step with the trans-
mitter if the transmitter sends a sufficiently long stream of bits and if no steps are
taken to synchronize the transmitter and receiver.
Asynchronous Transmission
Two approaches are common for achieving the desired synchronization. The first is
called, oddly enough, asynchronous transmission. The strategy with this scheme is to
avoid the timing problem by not sending long, uninterrupted streams of bits.
Instead, data are transmitted one character at a time, where each character is five to
eight bits in length.1 Timing or synchronization must only be maintained within each
character; the receiver has the opportunity to resynchronize at the beginning of
each new character.
Figure 6.1 illustrates this technique. When no character is being transmitted,
the line between transmitter and receiver is in an idle state. The definition of idle is
equivalent to the signaling element for binary 1. Thus, for NRZ-L signaling (see
Figure 5.2), which is common for asynchronous transmission, idle would be the pres-
ence of a negative voltage on the line. The beginning of a character is signaled by a
start bit with a value of binary 0. This is followed by the 5 to 8 bits that actually make
up the character. The bits of the character are transmitted beginning with the least
significant bit. For example, for IRA characters, the data bits are usually followed by
a parity bit, which therefore is in the most significant bit position. The parity bit is set
by the transmitter such that the total number of ones in the character, including the
parity bit, is even (even parity) or odd (odd parity), depending on the convention
being used. The receiver uses this bit for error detection, as discussed in Section 6.3.
The final element is a stop element, which is a binary 1. A minimum length for the
stop element is specified, and this is usually 1, 1.5, or 2 times the duration of an ordi-
nary bit. No maximum value is specified. Because the stop element is the same as
the idle state, the transmitter will continue to transmit the stop element until it is
ready to send the next character.
The timing requirements for this scheme are modest. For example, IRA char-
acters are typically sent as 8-bit units, including the parity bit. If the receiver is 5%
slower or faster than the transmitter, the sampling of the eighth character bit will be
displaced by 45% and still be correctly sampled.
1The number of bits that comprise a character depends on the code used. We have already described one
common example, the IRA code, which uses seven bits per character. Another common code is the
Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code (EBCDIC), which is an 8-bit character code used on
IBM mainframes.
184
CHAPTER 6 / DIGITAL DATA COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUES
Idle state
Odd or even
Remain idle or
of line
parity or unused
next start bit
5 to 8 data bits
1 to 2 bit times
0
Start
P
Stop
bit
bit
element
1
(a) Character format
Unpredictable time interval
between characters
Stop
Stop
Start
Start
element
element
bit
bit
1
1
0
1
0
0
0
1
0
1
1
0
1
1
0
0
(b) 8-bit asynchronous character stream
50
150
250
350
450
550
650
750
850
Transmitter timing (
s)
0
Start
Stop
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
bit
element
1
47
141
235
329
423
517
611
705
799
Receiver timing ( s)
(c) Effect of timing error
Figure 6.1
Asynchronous Transmission
EXAMPLE 6.1
Figure 6.1c shows the effects of a timing error of sufficient
magnitude to cause an error in reception. In this example we assume a data rate
of 10,000 bits per second (10 kbps); therefore, each bit is of 0.1 millisecond (ms),
or
100 ms,
duration. Assume that the receiver is fast by 6%, or
6 ms
per bit time.
Thus, the receiver samples the incoming character every
94 ms
(based on the
transmitter’s clock). As can be seen, the last sample is erroneous.
An error such as just described actually results in two errors. First, the last
sampled bit is incorrectly received. Second, the bit count may now be out of align-
ment. If bit 7 is a 1 and bit 8 is a 0, bit 8 could be mistaken for a start bit. This condi-
tion is termed a framing error, as the character plus start bit and stop element are
sometimes referred to as a frame. A framing error can also occur if some noise con-
dition causes the false appearance of a start bit during the idle state.
Asynchronous transmission is simple and cheap but requires an overhead of
two to three bits per character. For example, for an 8-bit character with no parity
bit, using a 1-bit-long stop element, two out of every ten bits convey no informa-
tion but are there merely for synchronization; thus the overhead is 20%. Of
6.1 / ASYNCHRONOUS AND SYNCHRONOUS TRANSMISSION
185
course, the percentage overhead could be reduced by sending larger blocks of bits
between the start bit and stop element. However, as Figure 6.1c indicates, the
larger the block of bits, the greater the cumulative timing error.To achieve greater
efficiency, a different form of synchronization, known as synchronous transmis-
sion, is used.
Synchronous Transmission
With synchronous transmission, a block of bits is transmitted in a steady stream
without start and stop codes. The block may be many bits in length. To prevent tim-
ing drift between transmitter and receiver, their clocks must somehow be synchro-
nized. One possibility is to provide a separate clock line between transmitter and
receiver. One side (transmitter or receiver) pulses the line regularly with one short
pulse per bit time. The other side uses these regular pulses as a clock. This technique
works well over short distances, but over longer distances the clock pulses are sub-
ject to the same impairments as the data signal, and timing errors can occur. The
other alternative is to embed the clocking information in the data signal. For digital
signals, this can be accomplished with Manchester or differential Manchester encod-
ing. For analog signals, a number of techniques can be used; for example, the carrier
frequency itself can be used to synchronize the receiver based on the phase of the
carrier.
With synchronous transmission, there is another level of synchronization
required, to allow the receiver to determine the beginning and end of a block of data.
To achieve this, each block begins with a preamble bit pattern and generally ends
with a postamble bit pattern. In addition, other bits are added to the block that con-
vey control information used in the data link control procedures discussed in
Chapter 7. The data plus preamble, postamble, and control information are called a
frame. The exact format of the frame depends on which data link control procedure
is being used.
Figure 6.2 shows, in general terms, a typical frame format for synchronous
transmission. Typically, the frame starts with a preamble called a flag, which is 8 bits
long. The same flag is used as a postamble. The receiver looks for the occurrence of
the flag pattern to signal the start of a frame. This is followed by some number of
control fields (containing data link control protocol information), then a data field
(variable length for most protocols), more control fields, and finally the flag is
repeated.
For sizable blocks of data, synchronous transmission is far more efficient than
asynchronous. Asynchronous transmission requires 20% or more overhead. The
control information, preamble, and postamble in synchronous transmission are typ-
ically less than 100 bits.
8-bit
Control
Control
8-bit
Data field
flag
fields
fields
flag
Figure 6.2
Synchronous Frame Format
186
CHAPTER 6 / DIGITAL DATA COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUES
EXAMPLE 6.2
One of the more common schemes, HDLC (described in Chapter
7), contains 48 bits of control, preamble, and postamble. Thus, for a 1000-character
block of data, each frame consists of 48 bits of overhead and
1000 * 8 = 8,000
bits
of data, for a percentage overhead of only 48/8048 * 100% = 0.6%.
6.2
TYPES OF ERRORS
In digital transmission systems, an error occurs when a bit is altered between trans-
mission and reception; that is, a binary 1 is transmitted and a binary 0 is received, or
a binary 0 is transmitted and a binary 1 is received. Two general types of errors can
occur: single-bit errors and burst errors. A single-bit error is an isolated error condi-
tion that alters one bit but does not affect nearby bits. A burst error of length B is a
contiguous sequence of B bits in which the first and last bits and any number of
intermediate bits are received in error. More precisely, IEEE Std 100 and ITU-T
Recommendation Q.9 both define an error burst as follows:
Error burst: A group of bits in which two successive erroneous bits are
always separated by less than a given number x of correct bits. The last erro-
neous bit in the burst and the first erroneous bit in the following burst are
accordingly separated by x correct bits or more.
Thus, in an error burst, there is a cluster of bits in which a number of errors
occur, although not necessarily all of the bits in the cluster suffer an error.
A single-bit error can occur in the presence of white noise, when a slight ran-
dom deterioration of the signal-to-noise ratio is sufficient to confuse the receiver’s
decision of a single bit. Burst errors are more common and more difficult to deal
with. Burst errors can be caused by impulse noise, which was described in Chapter 3.
Another cause is fading in a mobile wireless environment; fading is described in
Chapter 14.
Note that the effects of burst errors are greater at higher data rates.
EXAMPLE 6.3
An impulse noise event or a fading event of
occurs. At a
1 ms
data rate of 10 Mbps, there is a resulting error burst of 10 bits. At a data rate of
100 Mbps, there is an error burst of 100 bits.
6.3
ERROR DETECTION
Regardless of the design of the transmission system, there will be errors, resulting
in the change of one or more bits in a transmitted frame. In what follows, we
6.3 / ERROR DETECTION
187
assume that data are transmitted as one or more contiguous sequences of bits,
called frames. We define these probabilities with respect to errors in transmitted
frames:
: Probability that a bit is received in error; also known as the bit error rate
Pb
(BER)
: Probability that a frame arrives with no bit errors
P1
: Probability that, with an error-detecting algorithm in use, a frame arrives with
P2
one or more undetected errors
: Probability that, with an error-detecting algorithm in use, a frame arrives
P3
with one or more detected bit errors but no undetected bit errors
First consider the case in which no means are taken to detect errors. Then the
probability of detected errors
is zero. To express the remaining probabilities,
1P32
assume the probability that any bit is in error
is constant and independent for
1Pb2
each bit. Then we have
2F
P1 = 11 - Pb
P2 = 1 - P1
where F is the number of bits per frame. In words, the probability that a frame
arrives with no bit errors decreases when the probability of a single bit error
increases, as you would expect. Also, the probability that a frame arrives with no bit
errors decreases with increasing frame length; the longer the frame, the more bits it
has and the higher the probability that one of these is in error.
EXAMPLE 6.4
A defined objective for ISDN (integrated services digital net-
work) connections is that the BER on a 64-kbps channel should be less than
10-6
on at least 90% of observed 1-minute intervals. Suppose now that we have the
rather modest user requirement that on average one frame with an undetected
bit error should occur per day on a continuously used 64-kbps channel, and let
us assume a frame length of 1000 bits. The number of frames that can be trans-
mitted in a day comes out to
5.529 * 106,
which yields a desired frame error
rate of
P2 = 1/15.529 * 1062 =
0.18 * 10-6.
But if we assume a value of Pb of
10-6, then
P
1
= 10.99999921000
= 0.999
and therefore
P2 = 10-3,
which is about
three orders of magnitude too large to meet our requirement.
This is the kind of result that motivates the use of error-detecting techniques. All
of these techniques operate on the following principle (Figure 6.3). For a given frame
of bits, additional bits that constitute an error-detecting code are added by the trans-
mitter. This code is calculated as a function of the other transmitted bits. Typically, for
a data block of k bits, the error-detecting algorithm yields an error-detecting code of
n - k
bits, where
1n - k2 6 k.
The error-detecting code, also referred to as the
check bits, is appended to the data block to produce a frame of n bits, which is then
188
CHAPTER 6 / DIGITAL DATA COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUES
k bits
Data
Data'
E f(data)
E' f(data')
COMPARE
Receiver
Data
E, E' error-detecting codes
n k bits
f
error-detecting code function
n bits
Transmitter
Figure 6.3
Error Detection Process
transmitted. The receiver separates the incoming frame into the k bits of data and
1n - k2 bits of the error-detecting code. The receiver performs the same error-detect-
ing calculation on the data bits and compares this value with the value of the incoming
error-detecting code. A detected error occurs if and only if there is a mismatch. Thus
is the probability that a frame contains errors and that the error-detecting scheme
P3
will detect that fact.P is known as the residual error rate and is the probability that an
2
error will be undetected despite the use of an error-detecting scheme.
Parity Check
The simplest error-detecting scheme is to append a parity bit to the end of a block of
data. A typical example is character transmission, in which a parity bit is attached to
each 7-bit IRA character. The value of this bit is selected so that the character has an
even number of 1s (even parity) or an odd number of 1s (odd parity).
EXAMPLE 6.5
If the transmitter is transmitting an IRA character G (1110001)
and using odd parity, it will append a 1 and transmit 11110001.2 The receiver exam-
ines the received character and, if the total number of 1s is odd, assumes that no
error has occurred. If one bit (or any odd number of bits) is erroneously inverted
during transmission (for example, 11100001), then the receiver will detect an error.
2Recall from our discussion in Section 5.1 that the least significant bit of a character is transmitted first
and that the parity bit is the most significant bit.
6.3 / ERROR DETECTION
189
Note, however, that if two (or any even number) of bits are inverted due to
error, an undetected error occurs. Typically, even parity is used for synchronous
transmission and odd parity for asynchronous transmission.
The use of the parity bit is not foolproof, as noise impulses are often long
enough to destroy more than one bit, particularly at high data rates.
Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC)
One of the most common, and one of the most powerful, error-detecting codes is the
cyclic redundancy check (CRC), which can be described as follows. Given a k-bit
block of bits, or message, the transmitter generates an
sequence, known
1n - k2-bit
as a frame check sequence (FCS), such that the resulting frame, consisting of n bits,
is exactly divisible by some predetermined number. The receiver then divides the
incoming frame by that number and, if there is no remainder, assumes there was no
error.3
To clarify this, we present the procedure in three equivalent ways: modulo 2
arithmetic, polynomials, and digital logic.
Modulo 2 Arithmetic Modulo 2 arithmetic uses binary addition with no carries,
which is just the exclusive-OR (XOR) operation. Binary subtraction with no carries
is also interpreted as the XOR operation: For example,
1111
1111
11001
1010
0101
11
0101
1010
11001
_1001
101011
Now define
T = n-bit frame to be transmitted
D = k-bit block of data, or message, the first k bits of T
F = 1n - k2-bit FCS, the last 1n - k2 bits of T
P = pattern of n - k + 1 bits; this is the predetermined divisor
We would like T/P to have no remainder. It should be clear that
T = 2n-kD + F
That is, by multiplying D by
2
we have in effect shifted it to the left by
n - k
bits
n-k,
and padded out the result with zeroes. Adding F yields the concatenation of D and
3This procedure is slightly different from that of Figure 6.3. As shall be seen, the CRC process could be
implemented as follows. The receiver could perform a division operation on the incoming k data bits and
compare the result to the incoming 1n - k2 check bits.
190
CHAPTER 6 / DIGITAL DATA COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUES
F, which is T. We want T to be exactly divisible by P. Suppose that we divide
2n-kD
by P:
2n-kD
R
= Q +
(6.1)
P
P
There is a quotient and a remainder. Because division is modulo 2, the remainder is
always at least one bit shorter than the divisor. We will use this remainder as our
FCS. Then
T = 2n-kD + R
(6.2)
Does this R satisfy our condition that T/P have no remainder? To see that it does,
consider
T
2n-kD + R
2n-kD
=
+ R
P =
P
P
P
Substituting Equation (6.1), we have
T
R
R
Q +
P =
P +
P
However, any binary number added to itself modulo 2 yields zero. Thus
T
R + R
Q +
= Q
P =
P
There is no remainder, and therefore T is exactly divisible by P. Thus, the FCS is eas-
ily generated: Simply divide
by P and use the
remainder as the
2
1n - k2-bit
n-kD
FCS. On reception, the receiver will divide T by P and will get no remainder if there
have been no errors.
EXAMPLE 6.6
1.
Given
Message D = 1010001101 110 bits2
Pattern P = 110101 16 bits2
FCS R = to be calculated 15 bits2
Thus,
n = 15, k = 10,
and
1n - k2 = 5.
2.
The message is multiplied by 25,yielding 101000110100000.
3.
This product is divided by P:
6.3 / ERROR DETECTION
191
1
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
1
0
Q
P
1
1
0
1
0
1
1
0
1
0
0
0
1
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
2n-kD
1
1
0
1
0
1
1
1
1
0
1
1
1
1
0
1
0
1
1
1
1
0
1
0
1
1
0
1
0
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
1
1
0
1
0
1
1
0
1
1
0
0
1
1
0
1
0
1
1
1
0
0
1
0
1
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
1
1
0
R
4.
The remainder is added to
2
5D
to give
T = 101000110101110,
which is trans-
mitted.
5.
If there are no errors, the receiver receives T intact. The received frame is
divided by P:
1
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
1
0
Q
P
1
1
0
1
0
1
1
0
1
0
0
0
1
1
0
1
0
1
1
1
0
T
1
1
0
1
0
1
1
1
1
0
1
1
1
1
0
1
0
1
1
1
1
0
1
0
1
1
0
1
0
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
1
1
0
1
0
1
1
0
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
1
0
1
1
1
0
1
0
1
1
1
0
1
0
1
0
R
Because there is no remainder, it is assumed that there have been no errors.
The pattern P is chosen to be one bit longer than the desired FCS, and the
exact bit pattern chosen depends on the type of errors expected. At minimum, both
the high- and low-order bits of P must be 1.
There is a concise method for specifying the occurrence of one or more errors.
An error results in the reversal of a bit. This is equivalent to taking the XOR of the
192
CHAPTER 6 / DIGITAL DATA COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUES
bit and 1 (modulo 2 addition of 1 to the bit):
Thus, the errors
0 + 1 = 1; 1 + 1 = 0.
in an n-bit frame can be represented by an n-bit field with 1s in each error position.
The resulting frame T can be expressed as
r
T
r
= T E
where
T = transmitted frame
E = error pattern with 1s in positions where errors occur
T
r
= received frame
= bitwise exclusive-OR1XOR2
If there is an error
the receiver will fail to detect the error if and only if
T
r
1E Z 02,
is divisible by P, which is equivalent to E divisible by P. Intuitively, this seems an
unlikely occurrence.
Polynomials A second way of viewing the CRC process is to express all values as
polynomials in a dummy variable X, with binary coefficients. The coefficients
correspond to the bits in the binary number. Thus, for
D = 110011,
we have
D1X2 = X5 + X4 + X + 1, and for
P = 11001,
we have
P1X2 = X4 + X3
+ 1.
Arithmetic operations are again modulo 2. The CRC process can now be described
as
Xn-kD1X2
R1X2
= Q1X2 +
P1X2
P1X2
T1X2 = Xn-kD1X2 + R1X2
Compare these equations with Equations (6.1) and (6.2).
EXAMPLE 6.7
Using the preceding example, for
D = 1010001101,
we have
D1X2 = X9 + X7 + X3 + X2 + 1, and for
P = 110101,
we have
P1X2 = X5 + X4 + X2 + 1. We should end up with
R = 01110,
which corre-
sponds to
R1X2 = X3 + X2 + X.
Figure 6.4 shows the polynomial division that
corresponds to the binary division in the preceding example.
An error E(X) will only be undetectable if it is divisible by P(X). It can be
shown [PETE 61, RAMA88] that all of the following errors are not divisible by a
suitably chosen P(X) and hence are detectable:
• All single-bit errors, if P(X) has more than one nonzero term
• All double-bit errors, as long as P(X) is a special type of polynomial, called a
primitive polynomial, with maximum exponent L, and the frame length is less
than 2L - 1.
6.3 / ERROR DETECTION
193
X9
X8
X6
X4
X2
X
Q(X)
P(X)
X5
X4
X2
1
X14
X12
X8
X7
X5
X5D(X)
X14
X13
X11
X9
X13
X12
X11
X9
X8
X13
X12
X10
X8
X11
X10
X9
X7
X11
X10
X8
X6
X9
X8
X7
X6
X5
X9
X8
X6
X4
7
X
X5
X4
X7
X6
X4
X2
X6
X5
X2
X6
X5
X3
X
X3
X2
X R(X)
Figure 6.4
Example of Polynomial Division
• Any odd number of errors, as long as P(X) contains a factor
1X + 12
• Any burst error for which the length of the burst is less than or equal to
n - k;
that is, less than or equal to the length of the FCS
• A fraction of error bursts of length
n - k + 1;
the fraction equals
1 - 2-1n-k-12
• A fraction of error bursts of length greater than
n - k + 1;
the fraction
equals
1 - 2-1n-k2
In addition, it can be shown that if all error patterns are considered equally
likely, then for a burst error of length
the probability of an undetected error
r + 1,
(E(X) is divisible by P(X)) is
and for a longer burst, the probability is
1/2r-1,
1/2r,
where r is the length of the FCS.
Four versions of P(X) are widely used:
CRC-12 = X12 + X11 + X3 + X2 + X + 1
CRC-16 = X16 + X15 + X2 + 1
CRC-CCITT = X16 + X12 + X5 + 1
CRC-32 = X32 + X26 + X23 + X22 + X16 + X12 + X11
+ X10 + X8 + X7 + X5 + X4 + X2 + X + 1
The CRC-12 system is used for transmission of streams of 6-bit characters and gen-
erates a 12-bit FCS. Both CRC-16 and CRC-CCITT are popular for 8-bit characters,
in the United States and Europe, respectively, and both result in a 16-bit FCS. This
would seem adequate for most applications, although CRC-32 is specified as an
option in some point-to-point synchronous transmission standards and is used in
IEEE 802 LAN standards.
194
CHAPTER 6 / DIGITAL DATA COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUES
Digital Logic The CRC process can be represented by, and indeed imple-
mented as, a dividing circuit consisting of XOR gates and a shift register. The shift
register is a string of 1-bit storage devices. Each device has an output line, which
indicates the value currently stored, and an input line. At discrete time instants,
known as clock times, the value in the storage device is replaced by the value indi-
cated by its input line. The entire register is clocked simultaneously, causing a 1-bit
shift along the entire register. The circuit is implemented as follows:
1. The register contains
bits, equal to the length of the FCS.
n - k
2. There are up to
XOR gates.
n - k
3. The presence or absence of a gate corresponds to the presence or absence of
a term in the divisor polynomial, P(X), excluding the terms 1 and Xn-k.
EXAMPLE 6.8
The architecture of a CRC circuit is best explained by first con-
sidering an example, which is illustrated in Figure 6.5. In this example, we use
Data D = 1010001101;
D1X2 = X9 + X7 + X3 + X2 + 1
Divisor P = 110101;
P1X2 = X5 + X4 + X2 + 1
which were used earlier in the discussion.
Figure 6.5a shows the shift register implementation. The process begins with
the shift register cleared (all zeros). The message, or dividend, is then entered,
one bit at a time, starting with the most significant bit. Figure 6.5b is a table that
shows the step-by-step operation as the input is applied one bit at a time. Each
row of the table shows the values currently stored in the five shift-register ele-
ments. In addition, the row shows the values that appear at the outputs of the
three XOR circuits. Finally, the row shows the value of the next input bit, which is
available for the operation of the next step.
Note that the XOR operation affects
and C on the next shift.This is
0
C4, C2,
identical to the binary long division process illustrated earlier. The process con-
tinues through all the bits of the message. To produce the proper output, two
switches are used. The input data bits are fed in with both switches in the A posi-
tion. As a result, for the first 10 steps, the input bits are fed into the shift register
and also used as output bits.After the last data bit is processed, the shift register
contains the remainder (FCS) (shown shaded).As soon as the last data bit is pro-
vided to the shift register, both switches are set to the B position. This has two
effects: (1) All of the XOR gates become simple pass-throughs; no bits are
changed, and (2) as the shifting process continues, the 5 CRC bits are output.
At the receiver, the same logic is used. As each bit of M arrives, it is inserted
into the shift register. If there have been no errors, the shift register should con-
tain the bit pattern for R at the conclusion of M. The transmitted bits of R now
begin to arrive, and the effect is to zero out the register so that, at the conclusion
of reception, the register contains all 0s.
6.3 / ERROR DETECTION
195
Output
(15 bits)
Switch 1
A
B
Input
C4
C3
C2
C1
C0
(10 bits)
Switch
2
A
B
1-bit shift register
Exclusive-OR circuit
(a) Shift-register implementation
C4
C3
C2
C1
C0
C4
C3
I C4
C1
I
C4
I
I
input
Initial
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
Step 1
1
0
1
0
1
1
1
1
0
Step 2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
1
Step 3
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
1
0
Step 4
0
1
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
Message to
Step 5
1
0
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
be sent
Step 6
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
Step 7
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
1
1
Step 8
1
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
0
Step 9
1
0
1
1
1
0
1
0
1
Step 10
0
1
1
1
0
(b) Example with input of 1010001101
Figure 6.5
Circuit with Shift Registers for Dividing by the Polynomial
X5 + X4 + X2 + 1
Output
(n bits)
Switch 1
A
B
Input
(k bits)
Cn
k
1
Cn
k
2
C1
C0
An
k
1
An
k
2
A2
A1
Switch
2
A
B
Figure 6.6
General CRC Architecture to Implement Divisor 11 + A1X + A2X2 +
Á
+
An-1Xn-k-1 + Xn-k2
196
CHAPTER 6 / DIGITAL DATA COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUES
Figure 6.6 indicates the general architecture of the shift register implementa-
n-k
tion of a CRC for the polynomial
P1X2 = g
i=0 AiXi
,
where
A0 = An-k
= 1
and
all other
A
i
equal either 0 or 1.4
6.4
ERROR CORRECTION
Error detection is a useful technique, found in data link control protocols, such as
HDLC, and in transport protocols, such as TCP. However, correction of errors
using an error-detecting code, requires that block of data be retransmitted, as
explained in Chapter 7. For wireless applications this approach is inadequate for
two reasons.
1. The bit error rate on a wireless link can be quite high, which would result in a
large number of retransmissions.
2. In some cases, especially satellite links, the propagation delay is very long com-
pared to the transmission time of a single frame. The result is a very inefficient
system. As is discussed in Chapter 7, the common approach to retransmission
is to retransmit the frame in error plus all subsequent frames. With a long data
link, an error in a single frame necessitates retransmitting many frames.
Instead, it would be desirable to enable the receiver to correct errors in an
incoming transmission on the basis of the bits in that transmission. Figure 6.7 shows
in general how this is done. On the transmission end, each k-bit block of data is
k bits
Codeword
Data
FEC
FEC
decoder
encoder
Codeword
n bits
Data
Transmitter
Receiver
Figure 6.7
Error Correction Process
4It is common for the CRC register to be shown shifting to the right, which is the reverse of the analogy
to binary division. Because binary numbers are usually shown with the most significant bit on the left, a
left-shifting register, as is used here, is more appropriate.
6.4 / ERROR CORRECTION
197
mapped into an n-bit block
called a codeword, using an FEC (forward
1n 7 k2
error correction) encoder. The codeword is then transmitted. During transmission,
the signal is subject to impairments, which may produce bit errors in the signal. At
the receiver, the incoming signal is demodulated to produce a bit string that is simi-
lar to the original codeword but may contain errors. This block is passed through an
FEC decoder, with one of four possible outcomes:
1. If there are no bit errors, the input to the FEC decoder is identical to the
original codeword, and the decoder produces the original data block as
output.
2. For certain error patterns, it is possible for the decoder to detect and correct
those errors. Thus, even though the incoming data block differs from the trans-
mitted codeword, the FEC decoder is able to map this block into the original
data block.
3. For certain error patterns, the decoder can detect but not correct the errors. In
this case, the decode simply reports an uncorrectable error.
4. For certain, typically rare, error patterns, the decoder does not detect that any
errors have occurred and maps the incoming n-bit data block into a k-bit block
that differs from the original k-bit block.
How is it possible for the decoder to correct bit errors? In essence, error cor-
rection works by adding redundancy to the transmitted message. The redundancy
makes it possible for the receiver to deduce what the original message was, even in
the face of a certain level of error rate. In this section we look at a widely used form
of error-correcting code known as a block error-correcting code. Our discussion
only deals with basic principles; a discussion of specific error-correcting codes is
beyond our scope.
Before proceeding, we note that in many cases, the error-correcting code follows
the same general layout as shown for error-detecting codes in Figure 6.3. That is, the
FEC algorithm takes as input a k-bit block and adds
check bits to that block
1n - k2
to produce an n-bit block; all of the bits in the original k-bit block show up in the n-bit
block. For some FEC algorithms, the FEC algorithm maps the k-bit input into an n-bit
codeword in such a way that the original k bits do not appear in the codeword.
Block Code Principles
To begin, we define a term that shall be of use to us. The Hamming distance
d1v1 , v22
between two n-bit binary sequences v and v is the number of bits in which v and
1
2
1
v2
disagree. For example, if
v1 = 011011,
v2 = 110001
then
d1v1 , v22 = 3
Now let us consider the block code technique for error correction. Suppose we
wish to transmit blocks of data of length k bits. Instead of transmitting each block as
k bits, we map each k-bit sequence into a unique n-bit codeword.
198
CHAPTER 6 / DIGITAL DATA COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUES
EXAMPLE 6.9
For
k = 2
and
n = 5,
we can make the following assignment:
Data Block
Codeword
00
00000
01
00111
10
11001
11
11110
Now, suppose that a codeword block is received with the bit pattern 00100. This is
not a valid codeword, and so the receiver has detected an error. Can the error be
corrected? We cannot be sure which data block was sent because 1, 2, 3, 4, or even
all 5 of the bits that were transmitted may have been corrupted by noise. How-
ever, notice that it would require only a single bit change to transform the valid
codeword 00000 into 00100. It would take two bit changes to transform 00111 to
00100, three bit changes to transform 11110 to 00100, and it would take four bit
changes to transform 11001 into 00100. Thus, we can deduce that the most likely
codeword that was sent was 00000 and that therefore the desired data block is 00.
This is error correction. In terms of Hamming distances, we have
d100000, 001002 = 1; d100111, 001002 = 2;
d111001, 001002 = 4; d111110, 001002 = 3
So the rule we would like to impose is that if an invalid codeword is received,
then the valid codeword that is closest to it (minimum distance) is selected. This
will only work if there is a unique valid codeword at a minimum distance from
each invalid codeword.
For our example, it is not true that for every invalid codeword there is one
and only one valid codeword at a minimum distance. There are
possible
25 = 32
codewords of which 4 are valid, leaving 28 invalid codewords. For the invalid
codewords, we have the following:
Invalid
Minimum
Valid
Invalid
Minimum
Valid
Codeword
Distance
Codeword
Codeword
Distance
Codeword
00001
1
00000
10000
1
00000
00010
1
00000
10001
1
11001
00011
1
00111
10010
2
00000 or 11110
00100
1
00000
10011
2
00111 or 11001
00101
1
00111
10100
2
00000 or 11110
00110
1
00111
10101
2
00111 or 11001
01000
1
00000
10110
1
11110
01001
1
11001
10111
1
00111
01010
2
00000 or 11110
11000
1
11001
01011
2
00111 or 11001
11010
1
11110
6.4 / ERROR CORRECTION
199
01100
2
00000 or 11110
11011
1
11001
01101
2
00111 or 11001
11100
1
11110
01110
1
11110
11101
1
11001
01111
1
00111
11111
1
11110
There are eight cases in which an invalid codeword is at a distance 2 from two
different valid codewords. Thus, if one such invalid codeword is received, an error
in 2 bits could have caused it and the receiver has no way to choose between the
two alternatives. An error is detected but cannot be corrected. However, in every
case in which a single bit error occurs, the resulting codeword is of distance 1
from only one valid codeword and the decision can be made. This code is there-
fore capable of correcting all single-bit errors but cannot correct double bit
errors. Another way to see this is to look at the pairwise distances between valid
codewords:
d100000, 001112 = 3;
d100000, 110012 = 3; d100000, 111102 = 4;
d100111, 110012 = 4;
d100111, 111102 = 3; d111001, 111102 = 3;
The minimum distance between valid codewords is 3. Therefore, a single bit
error will result in an invalid codeword that is a distance 1 from the original valid
codeword but a distance at least 2 from all other valid codewords. As a result, the
code can always correct a single-bit error. Note that the code also will always
detect a double-bit error.
The preceding example illustrates the essential properties of a block error-
correcting code. An (n, k) block code encodes k data bits into n-bit codewords.
Typically, each valid codeword reproduces the original k data bits and adds to them
1n - k2 check bits to form the n-bit codeword. Thus the design of a block code is
equivalent to the design of a function of the form
where v is a vector of
d
vc = f1vd2,
k data bits and v is a vector of n codeword bits.
c
With an (n, k) block code, there are 2k valid codewords out of a total of
2n
possible codewords. The ratio of redundant bits to data bits,
is called
1n - k2/k,
the redundancy of the code, and the ratio of data bits to total bits, k/n, is called the
code rate. The code rate is a measure of how much additional bandwidth is
required to carry data at the same data rate as without the code. For example, a
code rate of 1/2 requires double the transmission capacity of an uncoded system to
maintain the same data rate. Our example has a code rate of 2/5 and so requires
2.5 times the capacity of an uncoded system. For example, if the data rate input to
the encoder is 1 Mbps, then the output from the encoder must be at a rate of 2.5
Mbps to keep up.
For a code consisting of the codewords
w1, w2, Á , ws,
where
s = 2n,
the mini-
mum distance
dmin
of the code is defined as
min
dmin =
[d1wi , wj2]
i Z j
200
CHAPTER 6 / DIGITAL DATA COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUES
It can be shown that the following conditions hold. For a given positive integer t,
if a code satisfies
then the code can correct all bit errors up to
dmin Ú 12t + 12,
and including errors of t bits. If
then all
bits can be
d
errors … 1t - 12
min Ú 2t,
corrected and errors of t bits can be detected but not, in general, corrected. Con-
versely, any code for which all errors of
are corrected must satisfy
magnitude … t
Ú 12t + 12, and any code for which all errors of
are
d
magnitude … 1t - 12
min
corrected and all errors of magnitude t are detected must satisfy
dmin Ú 2t.
Another way of putting the relationship between
and t is to say that the
dmin
maximum number of guaranteed correctable errors per codeword satisfies
dmin - 1
t
= j
k
2
where
means the largest integer not to exceed x (e.g.,
). Furthermore,
:x;
: 6.3 ;
= 6
if we are concerned only with error detection and not error correction, then the
number of errors, t, that can be detected satisfies
t
= dmin - 1
To see this, consider that if
errors occur, this could change one valid code-
dmin
word into another. Any number of errors less than
can not result in another
dmin
valid codeword.
The design of a block code involves a number of considerations.
1. For given values of n and k, we would like the largest possible value of
dmin .
2. The code should be relatively easy to encode and decode, requiring minimal
memory and processing time.
3. We would like the number of extra bits,
to be small, to reduce band-
1n - k2,
width.
4. We would like the number of extra bits,
to be large, to reduce error
1n - k2,
rate.
Clearly, the last two objectives are in conflict, and tradeoffs must be made.
It is instructive to examine Figure 6.8, based on [LEBO98]. The literature on
error-correcting codes frequently includes graphs of this sort to demonstrate the
effectiveness of various encoding schemes. Recall from Chapter 5 that coding can be
used to reduce the required
value to achieve a given bit error rate.5 The coding
Eb/N0
discussed in Chapter 5 has to do with the definition of signal elements to represent
bits. The coding discussed in this chapter also has an effect on
In Figure 6.8,
Eb/N0 .
the curve on the right is for an uncoded modulation system; the shaded region rep-
resents the area in which improvement can be achieved. In this region, a smaller
BER (bit error rate) is achieved for a given
and conversely, for a given BER,
Eb/N0 ,
a smaller
is required. The other curve is a typical result of a code rate of one-
Eb/N0
half (equal number of data and check bits). Note that at an error rate of
10-6,
the
use of coding allows a reduction in E
of 2.77 dB. This reduction is referred to as
b/N0
5
is the ratio of signal energy per bit to noise power density per Hertz; it is defined and discussed in
Eb/N0
Chapter 3.
6.5 / LINE CONFIGURATIONS
201
1
101
Without
coding
102
Channel bit
Rate 1/2
error probability
coding
103
104
Region of
potential
105
coding gain
106
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
3 dB
2.77 dB
(Eb/N0) (dB)
Figure 6.8
How Coding Improves System Performance
the coding gain, which is defined as the reduction, in decibels, in the required
Eb/N0
to achieve a specified BER of an error-correcting coded system compared to an
uncoded system using the same modulation.
It is important to realize that the BER for the second rate 1/2 curve refers to
the rate of uncorrected errors and that the E value refers to the energy per data bit.
b
Because the rate is 1/2, there are two bits on the channel for each data bit, and the
energy per coded bit is half that of the energy per data bit, or a reduction of 3 dB to
a value of 8 dB. If we look at the energy per coded bit for this system, then we see
that the channel bit error rate is about
or 0.024.
2.4 * 10-2,
Finally, note that below a certain threshold of
, the coding scheme actu-
Eb/N0
ally degrades performance. In our example of Figure 6.8, the threshold occurs at
about 5.4 dB. Below the threshold, the extra check bits add overhead to the system
that reduces the energy per data bit causing increased errors. Above the threshold,
the error-correcting power of the code more than compensates for the reduced
,
Eb
resulting in a coding gain.
6.5
LINE CONFIGURATIONS
Two characteristics that distinguish various data link configurations are topology
and whether the link is half duplex or full duplex.
Topology
The topology of a data link refers to the physical arrangement of stations on a trans-
mission medium. If there are only two stations (e.g., a terminal and a computer or
202
CHAPTER 6 / DIGITAL DATA COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUES
Terminals
(secondaries)
Host
(primary)
(a) Point-to-point
(b) Multipoint
Figure 6.9
Traditional Computer/Terminal Configurations
two computers), the link is point to point. If there are more than two stations, then it
is a multipoint topology. Traditionally, a multipoint link has been used in the case of
a computer (primary station) and a set of terminals (secondary stations). In today’s
environments, the multipoint topology is found in local area networks.
Traditional multipoint topologies are made possible when the terminals are
only transmitting a fraction of the time. Figure 6.9 illustrates the advantages of the
multipoint configuration. If each terminal has a point-to-point link to its computer,
then the computer must have one I/O port for each terminal. Also there is a sepa-
rate transmission line from the computer to each terminal. In a multipoint configu-
ration, the computer needs only a single I/O port and a single transmission line,
which saves costs.
Full Duplex and Half Duplex
Data exchanges over a transmission line can be classified as full duplex or half
duplex. With half-duplex transmission, only one of two stations on a point-to-point
link may transmit at a time. This mode is also referred to as two-way alternate, sug-
gestive of the fact that two stations must alternate in transmitting. This can be
6.6 / RECOMMENDED READING
203
compared to a one-lane, two-way bridge. This form of transmission is often used for
terminal-to-computer interaction. While a user is entering and transmitting data, the
computer is prevented from sending data to the terminal, which would appear on
the terminal screen and cause confusion.
For full-duplex transmission, two stations can simultaneously send and receive
data from each other. Thus, this mode is known as two-way simultaneous and may be
compared to a two-lane, two-way bridge. For computer-to-computer data exchange,
this form of transmission is more efficient than half-duplex transmission.
With digital signaling, which requires guided transmission, full-duplex opera-
tion usually requires two separate transmission paths (e.g., two twisted pairs), while
half duplex requires only one. For analog signaling, it depends on frequency: If a sta-
tion transmits and receives on the same frequency, it must operate in half-duplex
mode for wireless transmission, although it may operate in full-duplex mode for
guided transmission using two separate transmission lines. If a station transmits on
one frequency and receives on another, it may operate in full-duplex mode for wire-
less transmission and in full-duplex mode with a single line for guided transmission.
It is possible to transmit digital signals simultaneously in both directions on a
single transmission line using a technique called echo cancellation. This is a signal
processing technique whose explanation is beyond the scope of this book.
6.6
RECOMMENDED READING
The classic treatment of error detecting codes and CRC is [PETE61]. [RAMA88] is an excel-
lent tutorial on CRC.
[STAL05] discusses most of the widely used error-correcting codes. [ADAM91] pro-
vides comprehensive treatment of error-correcting codes. [SKLA01] contains a clear, well-
written section on the subject. Two useful survey articles are [BERL87] and [BHAR83]. A
quite readable theoretical and mathematical treatment of error-correcting codes is [ASH90].
[FREE98] provides good coverage of many physical layer interface standards.
ADAM91
Adamek, J. Foundations of Coding. New York: Wiley, 1991.
ASH90
Ash, R. Information Theory. New York: Dover, 1990.
BERL87
Berlekamp, E.; Peile, R.; and Pope, S. “The Application of Error Control to
Communications.” IEEE Communications Magazine, April 1987.
BHAR83
Bhargava, V. “Forward Error Correction Schemes for Digital Communica-
tions.” IEEE Communications Magazine, January 1983.
FREE98
Freeman, R. Telecommunication Transmission Handbook. New York: Wiley,
1998.
PETE61
Peterson, W., and Brown, D. “Cyclic Codes for Error Detection.” Proceedings
of the IEEE, January 1961.
RAMA88
Ramabadran, T., and Gaitonde, S. “A Tutorial on CRC Computations.” IEEE
Micro, August 1988.
SKLA01
Sklar, B. Digital Communications: Fundamentals and Applications. Upper Sad-
dle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2001.
STAL05
Stallings, W. Wireless Communications and Networks, Second Edition. Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2005.
204
CHAPTER 6 / DIGITAL DATA COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUES
6.7
KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
Key Terms
asynchronous transmission
error-detecting code
interchange circuits
codeword
forward error correction (FEC)
Integrated Services Digital
cyclic code
frame
Network (ISDN)
cyclic redundancy check (CRC)
frame check sequence (FCS)
modem
EIA-232
full duplex
parity bit
error correction
half duplex
parity check
error-correcting code (ECC)
Hamming code
point-to-point
error detection
Hamming distance
synchronous transmission
Review Questions
6.1. How is the transmission of a single character differentiated from the transmission of
the next character in asynchronous transmission?
6.2. What is a major disadvantage of asynchronous transmission?
6.3. How is synchronization provided for synchronous transmission?
6.4. What is a parity bit?
6.5. What is the CRC?
6.6. Why would you expect a CRC to detect more errors than a parity bit?
6.7. List three different ways in which the CRC algorithm can be described.
6.8. Is it possible to design an ECC that will correct some double bit errors but not all
double bit errors? Why or why not?
6.9. In an (n, k) block ECC, what do n and k represent?
Problems
6.1
Suppose a file of 10,000 bytes is to be sent over a line at 2400 bps.
a. Calculate the overhead in bits and time in using asynchronous communication.
Assume one start bit and a stop element of length one bit, and 8 bits to send the
byte itself for each character. The 8-bit character consists of all data bits, with no
parity bit.
b. Calculate the overhead in bits and time using synchronous communication.
Assume that the data are sent in frames. Each frame consists of 1000 characters
8000 bits and an overhead of 48 control bits per frame.
c. What would the answers to parts (a) and (b) be for a file of 100,000 characters?
d. What would the answers to parts (a) and (b) be for the original file of 10,000 char-
acters except at a data rate of 9600 bps?
6.2
A data source produces 7-bit IRA characters. Derive an expression of the maximum
effective data rate (rate of IRA data bits) over an x-bps line for the following:
a. Asynchronous transmission, with a 1.5-unit stop element and a parity bit.
b. Synchronous transmission, with a frame consisting of 48 control bits and 128 infor-
mation bits. The information field contains 8-bit (parity included) IRA characters.
c. Same as part (b), except that the information field is 1024 bits.
6.3
Demonstrate by example (write down a few dozen arbitrary bit patterns; assume one
start bit and a stop element of length one bit) that a receiver that suffers a framing
error on asynchronous transmission will eventually become realigned.
6.7 / KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
205
6.4
Suppose that a sender and receiver use asynchronous transmission and agree
not to use any stop elements. Could this work? If so, explain any necessary conditions.
6.5
An asynchronous transmission scheme uses 8 data bits, an even parity bit, and a stop
element of length 2 bits. What percentage of clock inaccuracy can be tolerated at the
receiver with respect to the framing error? Assume that the bit samples are taken at
the middle of the clock period. Also assume that at the beginning of the start bit the
clock and incoming bits are in phase.
6.6
Suppose that a synchronous serial data transmission is clocked by two clocks (one at
the sender and one at the receiver) that each have a drift of 1 minute in one year.
How long a sequence of bits can be sent before possible clock drift could cause a
problem? Assume that a bit waveform will be good if it is sampled within 40% of its
center and that the sender and receiver are resynchronized at the beginning of each
frame. Note that the transmission rate is not a factor, as both the bit period and the
absolute timing error decrease proportionately at higher transmission rates.
6.7
Would you expect that the inclusion of a parity bit with each character would change
the probability of receiving a correct message?
6.8
Two communicating devices are using a single-bit even parity check for error detec-
tion. The transmitter sends the byte 10101010 and, because of channel noise, the
receiver gets the byte 10011010. Will the receiver detect the error? Why or why not?
6.9
What is the purpose of using modulo 2 arithmetic rather than binary arithmetic in
computing an FCS?
6.10
Consider a frame consisting of two characters of four bits each. Assume that the prob-
ability of bit error is
and that it is independent for each bit.
10-3
a. What is the probability that the received frame contains at least one error?
b. Now add a parity bit to each character. What is the probability?
6.11
Using the CRC-CCITT polynomial, generate the 16-bit CRC code for a message con-
sisting of a 1 followed by 15 0s.
a. Use long division.
b. Use the shift register mechanism shown in Figure 6.6.
6.12
Explain in words why the shift register implementation of CRC will result in all 0s at
the receiver if there are no errors. Demonstrate by example.
6.13
For
P = 110011
and
M = 11100011,
find the CRC.
6.14
A CRC is constructed to generate a 4-bit FCS for an 11-bit message. The generator
polynomial is
X4 + X3 + 1.
a. Draw the shift register circuit that would perform this task (see Figure 6.6).
b. Encode the data bit sequence 10011011100 (leftmost bit is the least significant)
using the generator polynomial and give the codeword.
c. Now assume that bit 7 (counting from the LSB) in the codeword is in error and
show that the detection algorithm detects the error.
6.15
a. In a CRC error-detecting scheme, choose
Encode the bits
P1x2 = x4 + x + 1.
10010011011.
b. Suppose the channel introduces an error pattern 100010000000000 (i.e., a flip
from 1 to 0 or from 0 to 1 in position 1 and 5). What is received? Can the error be
detected?
c. Repeat part (b) with error pattern 100110000000000.
6.16
A modified CRC procedure is commonly used in communications standards. It is
defined as follows:
X16D1X2 + XkL1X2
R1X2
= Q +
P1X2
P1X2
FCS = L1X2 + R1X2
206
CHAPTER 6 / DIGITAL DATA COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUES
where
L1X2 = X15 + X14 + X13 + Á + X + 1
and k is the number of bits being checked (address, control, and information fields).
a. Describe in words the effect of this procedure.
b. Explain the potential benefits.
c. Show a shift register implementation for
P1X2 = X16 + X12 + X5 + 1.
6.17
Calculate the Hamming pairwise distances among the following codewords:
a.
00000, 10101, 01010
b.
000000, 010101, 101010, 110110
6.18
Section 6.4 discusses block error-correcting codes that make a decision on the
basis of minimum distance. That is, given a code consisting of s equally likely
codewords of length n, for each received sequence v, the receiver selects the
codeword w for which the distance d(w, v) is a minimum. We would like to prove
that this scheme is “ideal” in the sense that the receiver always selects the code-
word for which the probability of w given v,
is a maximum. Because all
p1w ƒ v2,
codewords are assumed equally likely, the codeword that maximizes
is the
p1w ƒ v2
same as the codeword that maximizes
p1v ƒ w2.
a. In order that w be received as v, there must be exactly d(w, v) errors in transmis-
sion, and these errors must occur in those bits where w and v disagree. Let b be
the probability that a given bit is transmitted incorrectly and n be the length of a
codeword. Write an expression for
as a function of b, d(w, v), and n. Hint:
p1v ƒ w2
The number of bits in error is d(w, v) and the number of bits not in error is
n - d1w, v2.
b. Now compare
and
for two different codewords w and w by cal-
1
2
p1v ƒ w12
p1v ƒ w22
culating
p1v ƒ w12/p1v ƒ w22.
c. Assume that
0 6 b 6 0.5
and show that
p1v ƒ w12 7 p1v ƒ w22
if and only if
d1v, w12 6 d1v, w22.
This proves that the codeword w that gives the largest value
of
p1v ƒ w2
is that word whose distance from v is a minimum.
6.19
Section 6.4 states that for a given positive integer t, if a code satisfies
dmin Ú 2t + 1,
then the code can correct all bit errors up to and including errors of t bits. Prove this
assertion. Hint: Start by observing that for a codeword w to be decoded as another
codeword
the received sequence must be at least as close to
as to w.
wœ,
wœ
Note: The remaining problems concern material in Appendix G.
6.20
Draw a timing diagram showing the state of all EIA-232 leads between two DTE-
DCE pairs during the course of a data call on the switched telephone network.
6.21
Explain the operation of each null modem connection in Figure G.5.
6.22
For the V.24/EIA-232 Remote Loopback circuit to function properly, what circuits
must be logically connected?
CHAPTER7
DATA LINK CONTROL PROTOCOLS
7.1
Flow Control
7.2
Error Control
7.3
High-Level Data Link Control (HDLC)
7.4
Recommended Reading
7.5
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
Appendix 7A Performance Issues
207
208
CHAPTER 7 / DATA LINK CONTROL PROTOCOLS
“Great and enlightened one,” said Ten-teh, as soon as his stupor was lifted, “has this
person delivered his message competently, for his mind was still a seared vision of
snow and sand and perchance his tongue has stumbled?”
“Bend your ears to the wall,” replied the Emperor, “and be assured.”
—Kai Lung’s Golden Hours, Earnest Bramah
KEY POINTS
• Because of the possibility of transmission errors, and because the
receiver of data may need to regulate the rate at which data arrive, syn-
chronization and interfacing techniques are insufficient by themselves. It
is necessary to impose a layer of control in each communicating device
that provides functions such as flow control, error detection, and error
control. This layer of control is known as a data link control protocol.
• Flow control enables a receiver to regulate the flow of data from a
sender so that the receiver’s buffers do not overflow.
• In a data link control protocol, error control is achieved by retrans-
mission of damaged frames that have not been acknowledged or for
which the other side requests a retransmission.
• High-level data link control (HDLC) is a widely used data link con-
trol protocol. It contains virtually all of the features found in other
data link control protocols.
Our discussion so far has concerned sending signals over a transmission link. For
effective digital data communications, much more is needed to control and man-
age the exchange. In this chapter, we shift our emphasis to that of sending data
over a data communications link. To achieve the necessary control, a layer of logic
is added above the physical layer discussed in Chapter 6; this logic is referred to as
data link control or a data link control protocol. When a data link control protocol
is used, the transmission medium between systems is referred to as a data link.
To see the need for data link control, we list some of the requirements and
objectives for effective data communication between two directly connected
transmitting-receiving stations:
• Frame synchronization: Data are sent in blocks called frames. The beginning
and end of each frame must be recognizable.We briefly introduced this topic
with the discussion of synchronous frames (Figure 6.2).
• Flow control: The sending station must not send frames at a rate faster
than the receiving station can absorb them.
• Error control: Bit errors introduced by the transmission system should be
corrected.
• Addressing: On a shared link, such as a local area network (LAN), the
identity of the two stations involved in a transmission must be specified.
7.1 / FLOW CONTROL
209
• Control and data on same link: It is usually not desirable to have a physi-
cally separate communications path for control information. Accordingly,
the receiver must be able to distinguish control information from the data
being transmitted.
• Link management: The initiation, maintenance, and termination of a sus-
tained data exchange require a fair amount of coordination and coopera-
tion among stations. Procedures for the management of this exchange are
required.
None of these requirements is satisfied by the techniques described in
Chapter 6.We shall see in this chapter that a data link protocol that satisfies these
requirements is a rather complex affair. We begin by looking at two key mecha-
nisms that are part of data link control: flow control and error control. Following
this background we look at the most important example of a data link control
protocol: HDLC (high-level data link control). This protocol is important for two
reasons: First, it is a widely used standardized data link control protocol. Second,
HDLC serves as a baseline from which virtually all other important data link
control protocols are derived. Finally, an appendix to this chapter addresses some
performance issues relating to data link control.
7.1
FLOW CONTROL
Flow control is a technique for assuring that a transmitting entity does not over-
whelm a receiving entity with data. The receiving entity typically allocates a data
buffer of some maximum length for a transfer. When data are received, the receiver
must do a certain amount of processing before passing the data to the higher-level
software. In the absence of flow control, the receiver’s buffer may fill up and over-
flow while it is processing old data.
To begin, we examine mechanisms for flow control in the absence of errors.
The model we will use is depicted in Figure 7.1a, which is a vertical-time sequence
diagram. It has the advantages of showing time dependencies and illustrating the
correct send-receive relationship. Each arrow represents a single frame transiting a
data link between two stations. The data are sent in a sequence of frames, with each
frame containing a portion of the data and some control information. The time it
takes for a station to emit all of the bits of a frame onto the medium is the transmis-
sion time; this is proportional to the length of the frame. The propagation time is the
time it takes for a bit to traverse the link between source and destination. For this
section, we assume that all frames that are transmitted are successfully received; no
frames are lost and none arrive with errors. Furthermore, frames arrive in the same
order in which they are sent. However, each transmitted frame suffers an arbitrary
and variable amount of delay before reception.1
1On a direct point-to-point link, the amount of delay is fixed rather than variable. However, a data link
control protocol can be used over a network connection, such as a circuit-switched or ATM network, in
which case the delay may be variable.
210
CHAPTER 7 / DATA LINK CONTROL PROTOCOLS
Source
Destination
Source
Destination
Frame 1
Frame 1
Frame 1
Frame 1
Frame 2
Frame 2
Frame 2
Frame 3
Frame 3
Frame 3
Frame 3
Frame 4
Frame 4
Frame 4
Garbled
frame
Frame 5
Frame 5
Frame 5
Frame 5
(a) Error-free transmission
(b) Transmission with
losses and errors
Figure 7.1
Model of Frame Transmission
Stop-and-Wait Flow Control
The simplest form of flow control, known as stop-and-wait flow control, works as
follows. A source entity transmits a frame. After the destination entity receives the
frame, it indicates its willingness to accept another frame by sending back an
acknowledgment to the frame just received. The source must wait until it receives
the acknowledgment before sending the next frame. The destination can thus stop
the flow of data simply by withholding acknowledgment. This procedure works fine
and, indeed, can hardly be improved upon when a message is sent in a few large
frames. However, it is often the case that a source will break up a large block of data
into smaller blocks and transmit the data in many frames. This is done for the fol-
lowing reasons:
• The buffer size of the receiver may be limited.
• The longer the transmission, the more likely that there will be an error, neces-
sitating retransmission of the entire frame. With smaller frames, errors are
detected sooner, and a smaller amount of data needs to be retransmitted.
• On a shared medium, such as a LAN, it is usually desirable not to permit one
station to occupy the medium for an extended period, thus causing long delays
at the other sending stations.
7.1 / FLOW CONTROL
211
With the use of multiple frames for a single message, the stop-and-wait proce-
dure may be inadequate. The essence of the problem is that only one frame at a time
can be in transit. To explain we first define the bit length of a link as follows:
d
B = R *
(7.1)
V
where
B = length of the link in bits; this is the number of bits present on the link
at an instance in time when a stream of bits fully occupies the link
R = data rate of the link, in bps
d = length, or distance, of the link in meters
V = velocity of propagation, in m/s
In situations where the bit length of the link is greater than the frame length,
serious inefficiencies result. This is illustrated in Figure 7.2. In the figure, the trans-
mission time (the time it takes for a station to transmit a frame) is normalized to
one, and the propagation delay (the time it takes for a bit to travel from sender to
receiver) is expressed as the variable a. Thus, we can express a as
B
a =
(7.2)
L
where L is the number of bits in the frame (length of the frame in bits).
When a is less than 1, the propagation time is less than the transmission time.
In this case, the frame is sufficiently long that the first bits of the frame have arrived
at the destination before the source has completed the transmission of the frame.
t0
T
R
t0
T
R
Frame
t0
a
T
R
t0
1
T
R
t0
1
T
R
t0
a
T
R
t0
1 a
T
R
t0
1 a
T
R
ACK
t0
1
2a
T
R
t0
1
2a
T
R
(a) a
1
(b) a
1
Figure 7.2
Stop-and-Wait Link Utilization (transmission time = 1; propagation time = a)
212
CHAPTER 7 / DATA LINK CONTROL PROTOCOLS
When a is greater than 1, the propagation time is greater than the transmission time.
In this case, the sender completes transmission of the entire frame before the lead-
ing bits of that frame arrive at the receiver. Put another way, larger values of a are
consistent with higher data rates and/or longer distances between stations. Appen-
dix 7A discusses a and data link performance.
Both parts of Figure 7.2 (a and b) consist of a sequence of snapshots of
the transmission process over time. In both cases, the first four snapshots show the
process of transmitting a frame containing data, and the last snapshot shows the
return of a small acknowledgment frame. Note that for
the line is always
a 7 1,
underutilized and even for
the line is inefficiently utilized. In essence, for
a 6 1,
very high data rates, for very long distances between sender and receiver, stop-and-
wait flow control provides inefficient line utilization.
EXAMPLE 7.1
Consider a 200-m optical fiber link operating at 1 Gbps. The
velocity of propagation of optical fiber is typically about
Using Equa-
2 * 108 m/s.
tion (7.1),
Assume a frame of 1000 octets,
B = 1109 * 2002/12 * 1082 = 1000 bits.
or 8000 bits, is transmitted. Using Equation (7.2),
Using
a = 11000/80002 = 0.125.
Figure 7.2a as a guide, assume transmission starts at time
After
(a nor-
t
= 0.
1 ms
malized time of 0.125 frame times), the leading edge (first bit) of the frame has
reached R, and the first 1000 bits of the frame are spread out across the link. At
time
the trailing edge (final bit) of the frame has just been emitted by T,
t
= 8 ms,
and the final 1000 bits of the frame are spread out across the link. At
t
= 9 ms,
the final bit of the frame arrives at R. R now sends back an ACK frame.
If we assume the frame transmission time is negligible (very small ACK frame)
and that the ACK is sent immediately, the ACK arrives at T at
At this
t
= 10 ms.
point, T can begin transmitting a new frame. The actual transmission time for the
frame was
but the total time to transmit the first frame and receive and
8 ms,
ACK is
10 ms.
Now consider a 1-Mbps link between two ground stations that communicate
via a satellite relay. A geosynchronous satellite has an altitude of roughly 36,000
km. Then
For a frame
B = 1106 * 2 * 36,000,0002/13 * 1082 = 240,000 bits.
length of 8000 bits,
Using Figure 7.2b as a guide, we can
a = 1240000/80002 = 30.
work through the same steps as before. In this case, it takes 240 ms for the leading
edge of the frame to arrive and an additional 8 ms for the entire frame to arrive.
The ACK arrives back at T at
The actual transmission time for the first
t
= 488 ms.
frame was 8 ms, but the total time to transmit the first frame and receive an ACK
is 488 ms.
Sliding-Window Flow Control
The essence of the problem described so far is that only one frame at a time can be
in transit. In situations where the bit length of the link is greater than the frame
length
1a 7 12,
serious inefficiencies result. Efficiency can be greatly improved by
allowing multiple frames to be in transit at the same time.
7.1 / FLOW CONTROL
213
Let us examine how this might work for two stations, A and B, connected via a
full-duplex link. Station B allocates buffer space for W frames. Thus, B can accept W
frames, and A is allowed to send W frames without waiting for any acknowledg-
ments. To keep track of which frames have been acknowledged, each is labeled with
a sequence number. B acknowledges a frame by sending an acknowledgment that
includes the sequence number of the next frame expected. This acknowledgment
also implicitly announces that B is prepared to receive the next W frames, beginning
with the number specified. This scheme can also be used to acknowledge multiple
frames. For example, B could receive frames 2, 3, and 4 but withhold acknowledg-
ment until frame 4 has arrived. By then returning an acknowledgment with
sequence number 5, B acknowledges frames 2, 3, and 4 at one time. A maintains a
list of sequence numbers that it is allowed to send, and B maintains a list of
sequence numbers that it is prepared to receive. Each of these lists can be thought of
as a window of frames. The operation is referred to as sliding-window flow control.
Several additional comments need to be made. Because the sequence number to
be used occupies a field in the frame, it is limited to a range of values. For example, for
a 3-bit field, the sequence number can range from 0 to 7.Accordingly, frames are num-
bered modulo 8; that is, after sequence number 7, the next number is 0. In general, for
a k-bit field the range of sequence numbers is 0 through
and frames are num-
2k - 1,
bered modulo 2k.As will be shown subsequently, the maximum window size is
2k
- 1.
Figure 7.3 is a useful way of depicting the sliding-window process. It assumes
the use of a 3-bit sequence number, so that frames are numbered sequentially from
Frames buffered
until acknowledged
Window of frames
Frames already transmitted
that may be transmitted
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Frame
Window shrinks from
Window expands
sequence
Last frame Last frame
trailing edge as
from leading edge
number
acknowledged
transmitted
frames are sent
as ACKs are received
(a) Sender's perspective
Window of frames
Frames already received
that may be accepted
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Window shrinks from
Window expands
Last frame
Last frame
trailing edge as
from leading edge
acknowledged
received
frames are received
as ACKs are sent
(b) Receiver's perspective
Figure 7.3
Sliding-Window Depiction
214
CHAPTER 7 / DATA LINK CONTROL PROTOCOLS
0 through 7, and then the same numbers are reused for subsequent frames. The
shaded rectangle indicates the frames that may be sent; in this figure, the sender may
transmit five frames, beginning with frame 0. Each time a frame is sent, the shaded
window shrinks; each time an acknowledgment is received, the shaded window
grows. Frames between the vertical bar and the shaded window have been sent but
not yet acknowledged. As we shall see, the sender must buffer these frames in case
they need to be retransmitted.
The window size need not be the maximum possible size for a given
sequence number length. For example, using a 3-bit sequence number, a window
size of 5 could be configured for the stations using the sliding-window flow control
protocol.
EXAMPLE 7.2
An example is shown in Figure 7.4.The example assumes a 3-bit
sequence number field and a maximum window size of seven frames. Initially, A
and B have windows indicating that A may transmit seven frames, beginning with
frame 0 (F0). After transmitting three frames (F0, F1, F2) without acknowledg-
ment, A has shrunk its window to four frames and maintains a copy of the three
transmitted frames. The window indicates that A may transmit four frames, begin-
ning with frame number 3. B then transmits an RR (receive ready) 3, which means
“I have received all frames up through frame number 2 and am ready to receive
frame number 3; in fact, I am prepared to receive seven frames, beginning with
frame number 3.” With this acknowledgment, A is back up to permission to trans-
mit seven frames, still beginning with frame 3; also A may discard the buffered
frames that have now been acknowledged. A proceeds to transmit frames 3, 4, 5,
and 6. B returns RR 4, which acknowledges F3, and allows transmission of F4
through the next instance of F2. By the time this RR reaches A, it has already
transmitted F4, F5, and F6, and therefore A may only open its window to permit
sending four frames beginning with F7.
The mechanism so far described provides a form of flow control: The receiver
must only be able to accommodate seven frames beyond the one it has last acknowl-
edged. Most data link control protocols also allow a station to cut off the flow of
frames from the other side by sending a Receive Not Ready (RNR) message, which
acknowledges former frames but forbids transfer of future frames. Thus, RNR 5
means “I have received all frames up through number 4 but am unable to accept any
more at this time.” At some subsequent point, the station must send a normal
acknowledgment to reopen the window.
So far, we have discussed transmission in one direction only. If two stations
exchange data, each needs to maintain two windows, one for transmit and one for
receive, and each side needs to send the data and acknowledgments to the other. To
provide efficient support for this requirement, a feature known as piggybacking is typ-
ically provided. Each data frame includes a field that holds the sequence number of
that frame plus a field that holds the sequence number used for acknowledgment.
7.1 / FLOW CONTROL
215
Source system A
Destination system B
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Figure 7.4
Example of a Sliding-Window Protocol
Thus, if a station has data to send and an acknowledgment to send, it sends both
together in one frame, saving communication capacity. Of course, if a station has an
acknowledgment but no data to send, it sends a separate acknowledgment frame, such
as RR or RNR. If a station has data to send but no new acknowledgment to send, it
must repeat the last acknowledgment sequence number that it sent. This is because the
data frame includes a field for the acknowledgment number, and some value must be
put into that field. When a station receives a duplicate acknowledgment, it simply
ignores it.
Sliding-window flow control is potentially much more efficient than stop-and-
wait flow control. The reason is that, with sliding-window flow control, the transmis-
sion link is treated as a pipeline that may be filled with frames in transit. In contrast,
with stop-and-wait flow control, only one frame may be in the pipe at a time. Appen-
dix 7A quantifies the improvement in efficiency.
EXAMPLE 7.3
Let us consider the use of sliding-window flow control for the
two configurations of Example 7.1. As was calculated in Example 7.1, it takes
for an ACK to the first frame to be received. It takes
to transmit one
10 ms
8 ms
frame, so the sender can transmit one frame and part of a second frame by the
time the ACK to the first frame is received. Thus, a window size of 2 is adequate to
216
CHAPTER 7 / DATA LINK CONTROL PROTOCOLS
sender to transmit frames continuously, or a rate of one frame every
With
8 ms.
stop-and-wait, a rate of only one frame per
is possible.
10 ms
For the satellite configuration, it takes 488 ms for an ACK to the first frame to
be received. It takes 8 ms to transmit one frame, so the sender can transmit 61
frames by the time the ACK to the first frame is received. With a window field of 6
bits or more, the sender can transmit continuously, or a rate of one frame every 8
ms. If the window size is 7, using a 3-bit window field, then the sender can only send
7 frames and then must wait for an ACK before sending more. In this case, the
sender can transmit at a rate of 7 frames per 488 ms, or about one frame every 70
ms. With stop-and-wait, a rate of only one frame per 488 ms is possible.
7.2
ERROR CONTROL
Error control refers to mechanisms to detect and correct errors that occur in the
transmission of frames. The model that we will use, which covers the typical case, is
illustrated in Figure 7.1b. As before, data are sent as a sequence of frames; frames
arrive in the same order in which they are sent; and each transmitted frame suffers
an arbitrary and potentially variable amount of delay before reception. In addition,
we admit the possibility of two types of errors:
• Lost frame: A frame fails to arrive at the other side. For example, a noise burst
may damage a frame to the extent that the receiver is not aware that a frame
has been transmitted.
• Damaged frame: A recognizable frame does arrive, but some of the bits are in
error (have been altered during transmission).
The most common techniques for error control are based on some or all of the
following ingredients:
• Error detection: As discussed in the Chapter 6.
• Positive acknowledgment: The destination returns a positive acknowledgment
to successfully received, error-free frames.
• Retransmission after timeout: The source retransmits a frame that has not
been acknowledged after a predetermined amount of time.
• Negative acknowledgment and retransmission: The destination returns a neg-
ative acknowledgment to frames in which an error is detected. The source
retransmits such frames.
Collectively, these mechanisms are all referred to as automatic repeat request
(ARQ); the effect of ARQ is to turn an unreliable data link into a reliable one.
Three versions of ARQ have been standardized:
• Stop-and-wait ARQ
• Go-back-N ARQ
• Selective-reject ARQ
7.2 / ERROR CONTROL
217
All of these forms are based on the use of the flow control techniques dis-
cussed in Section 7.1. We examine each in turn.
Stop-and-Wait ARQ
Stop-and-wait ARQ is based on the stop-and-wait flow control technique outlined
previously. The source station transmits a single frame and then must await an
acknowledgment (ACK). No other data frames can be sent until the destination sta-
tion’s reply arrives at the source station.
Two sorts of errors could occur. First, the frame that arrives at the destination
could be damaged. The receiver detects this by using the error-detection technique
referred to earlier and simply discards the frame. To account for this possibility, the
source station is equipped with a timer. After a frame is transmitted, the source sta-
tion waits for an acknowledgment. If no acknowledgment is received by the time
that the timer expires, then the same frame is sent again. Note that this method
requires that the transmitter maintain a copy of a transmitted frame until an
acknowledgment is received for that frame.
The second sort of error is a damaged acknowledgment. Consider the follow-
ing situation. Station A sends a frame. The frame is received correctly by station B,
which responds with an acknowledgment (ACK). The ACK is damaged in transit
and is not recognizable by A, which will therefore time out and resend the same
frame. This duplicate frame arrives and is accepted by B. B has therefore accepted
two copies of the same frame as if they were separate. To avoid this problem, frames
are alternately labeled with 0 or 1, and positive acknowledgments are of the form
ACK0 and ACK1. In keeping with the sliding-window convention, an ACK0
acknowledges receipt of a frame numbered 1 and indicates that the receiver is ready
for a frame numbered 0.
Figure 7.5 gives an example of the use of stop-and-wait ARQ, showing the
transmission of a sequence of frames from source A to destination B.2 The figure
shows the two types of errors just described. The third frame transmitted by A is lost
or damaged and therefore B does not return an ACK. A times out and retransmits
the frame. Later, A transmits a frame labeled 1 but the ACK0 for that frame is lost.
A times out and retransmits the same frame. When B receives two frames in a row
with the same label, it discards the second frame but sends back an ACK0 to each.
The principal advantage of stop-and-wait ARQ is its simplicity. Its principal
disadvantage, as discussed in Section 7.1, is that stop-and-wait is an inefficient mech-
anism. The sliding-window flow control technique can be adapted to provide more
efficient line use; in this context, it is sometimes referred to as continuous ARQ.
Go-Back-N ARQ
The form of error control based on sliding-window flow control that is most
commonly used is called go-back-N ARQ. In this method, a station may send a
series of frames sequentially numbered modulo some maximum value. The number
of unacknowledged frames outstanding is determined by window size, using the
2This figure indicates the time required to transmit a frame. For simplicity, other figures in this chapter do
not show this time.
218
CHAPTER 7 / DATA LINK CONTROL PROTOCOLS
A
B
PDU trans-
mission time
Propagation time
ACK trans-
mission time
Timeout interval
PDU 0 lost;
A retransmits
Timeout interval
ACK0 lost;
A retransmits
B discards
duplicate PDU
Figure 7.5
Stop-and-Wait ARQ
sliding-window flow control technique. While no errors occur, the destination will
acknowledge incoming frames as usual (
or piggybacked
RR = receive ready,
acknowledgment). If the destination station detects an error in a frame, it may send
a negative acknowledgment
for that frame, as explained in the fol-
1REJ = reject2
lowing rules. The destination station will discard that frame and all future incoming
frames until the frame in error is correctly received. Thus, the source station, when it
receives a REJ, must retransmit the frame in error plus all succeeding frames that
were transmitted in the interim.
Suppose that station A is sending frames to station B. After each transmission,
A sets an acknowledgment timer for the frame just transmitted. Suppose that B has
7.2 / ERROR CONTROL
219
previously successfully received frame
and A has just transmitted frame i.
1i - 12
The go-back-N technique takes into account the following contingencies:
1.
Damaged frame. If the received frame is invalid (i.e., B detects an error, or the
frame is so damaged that B does not even perceive that it has received a
frame), B discards the frame and takes no further action as the result of that
frame. There are two subcases:
(a) Within a reasonable period of time, A subsequently sends frame
B
1i + 12.
receives frame
out of order and sends a REJ i. A must retransmit
1i + 12
frame i and all subsequent frames.
(b) A does not soon send additional frames. B receives nothing and returns
neither an RR nor a REJ. When A’s timer expires, it transmits an RR
frame that includes a bit known as the P bit, which is set to 1. B interprets
the RR frame with a P bit of 1 as a command that must be acknowledged
by sending an RR indicating the next frame that it expects, which is frame
i. When A receives the RR, it retransmits frame i. Alternatively, A could
just retransmit frame i when its timer expires.
2.
Damaged RR. There are two subcases:
(a) B receives frame i and sends RR
which suffers an error in transit.
1i + 12,
Because acknowledgments are cumulative (e.g., RR 6 means that all
frames through 5 are acknowledged), it may be that A will receive a subse-
quent RR to a subsequent frame and that it will arrive before the timer
associated with frame i expires.
(b) If A’s timer expires, it transmits an RR command as in Case 1b. It sets
another timer, called the P-bit timer. If B fails to respond to the RR com-
mand, or if its response suffers an error in transit, then A’s P-bit timer will
expire. At this point, A will try again by issuing a new RR command and
restarting the P-bit timer. This procedure is tried for a number of itera-
tions. If A fails to obtain an acknowledgment after some maximum num-
ber of attempts, it initiates a reset procedure.
3.
Damaged REJ. If a REJ is lost, this is equivalent to Case 1b.
EXAMPLE 7.4
Figure 7.6a is an example of the frame flow for go-back-N
ARQ. Because of the propagation delay on the line, by the time that an acknowl-
edgment (positive or negative) arrives back at the sending station, it has already
sent at least one additional frame beyond the one being acknowledged. In this
example, frame 4 is damaged. Frames 5 and 6 are received out of order and are
discarded by B. When frame 5 arrives, B immediately sends a REJ 4. When the
REJ to frame 4 is received, not only frame 4 but frames 5 and 6 must be retrans-
mitted. Note that the transmitter must keep a copy of all unacknowledged frames.
Figure 7.6a also shows an example of retransmission after timeout. No acknowl-
edgment is received for frame 5 within the timeout period, so A issues an RR to
determine the status of B.
220
CHAPTER 7 / DATA LINK CONTROL PROTOCOLS
A
B
A
B
Discarded by
Buffered by
receiver
receiver
4 retransmitted
4, 5, and 6
retransmitted
Timeout
Timeout
(a) Go-back-N ARQ
(b) Selective-reject ARQ
Figure 7.6
Sliding-Window ARQ Protocols
In Section 7.1, we mentioned that for a k-bit sequence number field, which pro-
vides a sequence number range of 2k,the maximum window size is limited to
2k
- 1.
This has to do with the interaction between error control and acknowledgment.
Consider that if data are being exchanged in both directions, station B must send pig-
gybacked acknowledgments to station A’s frames in the data frames being transmitted
by B, even if the acknowledgment has already been sent. As we have mentioned, this
is because B must put some number in the acknowledgment field of its data frame. As
7.2 / ERROR CONTROL
221
an example, assume a 3-bit sequence number (sequence number
). Suppose
space = 8
a station sends frame 0 and gets back an RR 1 and then sends frames 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 0
and gets another RR 1. This could mean that all eight frames were received correctly
and the RR 1 is a cumulative acknowledgment. It could also mean that all eight
frames were damaged or lost in transit, and the receiving station is repeating its previ-
ous RR 1. The problem is avoided if the maximum window size is limited to
7 123 - 12.
Selective-Reject ARQ
With selective-reject ARQ, the only frames retransmitted are those that receive a
negative acknowledgment, in this case called SREJ, or those that time out.
EXAMPLE 7.5
Figure 7.6b illustrates this scheme. When frame 5 is received
out of order, B sends a SREJ 4, indicating that frame 4 has not been received.
However, B continues to accept incoming frames and buffers them until a valid
frame 4 is received. At that point, B can place the frames in the proper order for
delivery to higher-layer software.
Selective reject would appear to be more efficient than go-back-N, because it
minimizes the amount of retransmission. On the other hand, the receiver must
maintain a buffer large enough to save post-SREJ frames until the frame in error is
retransmitted and must contain logic for reinserting that frame in the proper
sequence. The transmitter, too, requires more complex logic to be able to send a
frame out of sequence. Because of such complications, select-reject ARQ is much
less widely used than go-back-N ARQ. Selective reject is a useful choice for a satel-
lite link because of the long propagation delay involved.
The window size limitation is more restrictive for selective-reject than for go-
back-N. Consider the case of a 3-bit sequence number size for selective-reject. Allow
a window size of seven, and consider the following scenario [TANE03]:
1. Station A sends frames 0 through 6 to station B.
2. Station B receives all seven frames and cumulatively acknowledges with RR 7.
3. Because of a noise burst, the RR 7 is lost.
4. A times out and retransmits frame 0.
5. B has already advanced its receive window to accept frames 7, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and
5. Thus it assumes that frame 7 has been lost and that this is a new frame 0,
which it accepts.
The problem with the foregoing scenario is that there is an overlap between
the sending and receiving windows. To overcome the problem, the maximum win-
dow size should be no more than half the range of sequence numbers. In the pre-
ceding scenario, if only four unacknowledged frames may be outstanding, no
confusion can result. In general, for a k-bit sequence number field, which provides a
sequence number range of 2k,the maximum window size is limited to 2k-1.
222
CHAPTER 7 / DATA LINK CONTROL PROTOCOLS
7.3
HIGH-LEVEL DATA LINK CONTROL (HDLC)
The most important data link control protocol is HDLC (ISO 3009, ISO 4335). Not
only is HDLC widely used, but it is the basis for many other important data link
control protocols, which use the same or similar formats and the same mechanisms
as employed in HDLC.
Basic Characteristics
To satisfy a variety of applications, HDLC defines three types of stations, two
link configurations, and three data transfer modes of operation. The three station
types are
•
Primary station: Responsible for controlling the operation of the link. Frames
issued by the primary are called commands.
•
Secondary station: Operates under the control of the primary station. Frames
issued by a secondary are called responses. The primary maintains a separate
logical link with each secondary station on the line.
•
Combined station: Combines the features of primary and secondary. A com-
bined station may issue both commands and responses.
The two link configurations are
•
Unbalanced configuration: Consists of one primary and one or more sec-
ondary stations and supports both full-duplex and half-duplex transmis-
sion.
•
Balanced configuration: Consists of two combined stations and supports both
full-duplex and half-duplex transmission.
The three data transfer modes are
•
Normal response mode (NRM): Used with an unbalanced configuration. The
primary may initiate data transfer to a secondary, but a secondary may only
transmit data in response to a command from the primary.
•
Asynchronous balanced mode (ABM): Used with a balanced configuration.
Either combined station may initiate transmission without receiving permis-
sion from the other combined station.
•
Asynchronous response mode (ARM): Used with an unbalanced configura-
tion. The secondary may initiate transmission without explicit permission of
the primary. The primary still retains responsibility for the line, including ini-
tialization, error recovery, and logical disconnection.
NRM is used on multidrop lines, in which a number of terminals are connected
to a host computer. The computer polls each terminal for input. NRM is also some-
times used on point-to-point links, particularly if the link connects a terminal or
other peripheral to a computer. ABM is the most widely used of the three modes; it
makes more efficient use of a full-duplex point-to-point link because there is no
polling overhead. ARM is rarely used; it is applicable to some special situations in
which a secondary may need to initiate transmission.
7.3 / HIGH-LEVEL DATA LINK CONTROL (HDLC)
223
Frame Structure
HDLC uses synchronous transmission. All transmissions are in the form of frames,
and a single frame format suffices for all types of data and control exchanges.
Figure 7.7 depicts the structure of the HDLC frame. The flag, address, and con-
trol fields that precede the information field are known as a header. The FCS and
flag fields following the data field are referred to as a trailer.
Flag Fields Flag fields delimit the frame at both ends with the unique pattern
01111110. A single flag may be used as the closing flag for one frame and the opening
flag for the next. On both sides of the user-network interface, receivers are continu-
ously hunting for the flag sequence to synchronize on the start of a frame. While
receiving a frame, a station continues to hunt for that sequence to determine the end
of the frame. Because the protocol allows the presence of arbitrary bit patterns (i.e.,
there are no restrictions on the content of the various fields imposed by the link pro-
tocol), there is no assurance that the pattern 01111110 will not appear somewhere
inside the frame, thus destroying synchronization. To avoid this problem, a procedure
known as bit stuffing is used. For all bits between the starting and ending flags, the
transmitter inserts an extra 0 bit after each occurrence of five 1s in the frame. After
Flag
Address
Control
Information
FCS
Flag
8
8
8 or 16
Variable
16 or 32
8
bits
extendable
(a) Frame format
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
8n
0
0
1
(b) Extended address field
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
I: Information
0
N(S)
P/F
N(R)
N(S) Send sequence number
N(R) Receive sequence number
S: Supervisory
1
0
S
P/F
N(R)
S Supervisory function bits
M Unnumbered function bits
P/F Poll/final bit
U: Unnumbered
1
1
M
P/F
M
(c) 8-bit control field format
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
Information
0
N(S)
P/F
N(R)
Supervisory
1
0
S
0
0
0
0
P/F
N(R)
(d) 16-bit control field format
Figure 7.7
224
CHAPTER 7 / DATA LINK CONTROL PROTOCOLS
Original pattern:
111111111111011111101111110
After bit-stuffing:
1111101111101101111101011111010
Figure 7.8
Bit Stuffing
detecting a starting flag, the receiver monitors the bit stream. When a pattern of five
1s appears, the sixth bit is examined. If this bit is 0, it is deleted. If the sixth bit is a 1
and the seventh bit is a 0, the combination is accepted as a flag. If the sixth and sev-
enth bits are both 1, the sender is indicating an abort condition.
With the use of bit stuffing, arbitrary bit patterns can be inserted into the data
field of the frame. This property is known as data transparency.
Figure 7.8 shows an example of bit stuffing. Note that in the first two cases, the
extra 0 is not strictly necessary for avoiding a flag pattern but is necessary for the
operation of the algorithm.
Address Field The address field identifies the secondary station that transmitted
or is to receive the frame. This field is not needed for point-to-point links but is
always included for the sake of uniformity. The address field is usually 8 bits long
but, by prior agreement, an extended format may be used in which the actual
address length is a multiple of 7 bits. The leftmost bit of each octet is 1 or 0 accord-
ing as it is or is not the last octet of the address field. The remaining 7 bits of each
octet form part of the address. The single-octet address of 11111111 is interpreted as
the all-stations address in both basic and extended formats. It is used to allow the
primary to broadcast a frame for reception by all secondaries.
Control Field HDLC defines three types of frames, each with a different control
field format. Information frames (I-frames) carry the data to be transmitted for the
user (the logic above HDLC that is using HDLC). Additionally, flow and error con-
trol data, using the ARQ mechanism, are piggybacked on an information frame.
Supervisory frames (S-frames) provide the ARQ mechanism when piggybacking is
not used. Unnumbered frames (U-frames) provide supplemental link control func-
tions. The first one or two bits of the control field serves to identify the frame type. The
remaining bit positions are organized into subfields as indicated in Figures 7.7c and d.
Their use is explained in the discussion of HDLC operation later in this chapter.
All of the control field formats contain the poll/final (P/F) bit. Its use depends
on context. Typically, in command frames, it is referred to as the P bit and is set to
1 to solicit (poll) a response frame from the peer HDLC entity. In response frames,
it is referred to as the F bit and is set to 1 to indicate the response frame transmitted
as a result of a soliciting command.
Note that the basic control field for S- and I-frames uses 3-bit sequence num-
bers. With the appropriate set-mode command, an extended control field can be
used for S- and I-frames that employs 7-bit sequence numbers. U-frames always
contain an 8-bit control field.
Information Field The information field is present only in I-frames and some
U-frames. The field can contain any sequence of bits but must consist of an integral
7.3 / HIGH-LEVEL DATA LINK CONTROL (HDLC)
225
number of octets. The length of the information field is variable up to some system-
defined maximum.
Frame Check Sequence Field The frame check sequence (FCS) is an error-
detecting code calculated from the remaining bits of the frame, exclusive of flags.
The normal code is the 16-bit CRC-CCITT defined in Section 6.3. An optional
32-bit FCS, using CRC-32, may be employed if the frame length or the line reliabil-
ity dictates this choice.
Operation
HDLC operation consists of the exchange of I-frames, S-frames, and U-frames
between two stations. The various commands and responses defined for these frame
types are listed in Table 7.1. In describing HDLC operation, we will discuss these
three types of frames.
Table 7.1
HDLC Commands and Responses
Name
Command/
Description
Response
Information (I)
C/R
Exchange user data
Supervisory (S)
Receive ready (RR)
C/R
Positive acknowledgment; ready to receive I-frame
Receive not ready (RNR)
C/R
Positive acknowledgment; not ready to receive
Reject (REJ)
C/R
Negative acknowledgment; go back N
Selective reject (SREJ)
C/R
Negative acknowledgment; selective reject
Unnumbered (U)
Set normal response/extended mode
C
Set mode;
extended = 7-bit
sequence numbers
(SNRM/SNRME)
Set asynchronous response/extended
C
Set mode;
extended = 7-bit
sequence numbers
mode (SARM/SARME)
Set asynchronous balanced/extended
C
Set mode;
extended = 7-bit
sequence numbers
mode (SABM, SABME)
Set initialization mode (SIM)
C
Initialize link control functions in addressed station
Disconnect (DISC)
C
Terminate logical link connection
Unnumbered Acknowledgment (UA)
R
Acknowledge acceptance of one of the set-mode
commands
Disconnected mode (DM)
R
Responder is in disconnected mode
Request disconnect (RD)
R
Request for DISC command
Request initialization mode (RIM)
R
Initialization needed; request for SIM command
Unnumbered information (UI)
C/R
Used to exchange control information
Unnumbered poll (UP)
C
Used to solicit control information
Reset (RSET)
C
Used for recovery; resets N(R), N(S)
Exchange identification (XID)
C/R
Used to request/report status
Test (TEST)
C/R
Exchange identical information fields for testing
Frame reject (FRMR)
R
Report receipt of unacceptable frame
226
CHAPTER 7 / DATA LINK CONTROL PROTOCOLS
The operation of HDLC involves three phases. First, one side or another ini-
tializes the data link so that frames may be exchanged in an orderly fashion. Dur-
ing this phase, the options that are to be used are agreed upon. After
initialization, the two sides exchange user data and the control information to
exercise flow and error control. Finally, one of the two sides signals the termina-
tion of the operation.
Initialization Either side may request initialization by issuing one of the six set-
mode commands. This command serves three purposes:
1. It signals the other side that initialization is requested.
2. It specifies which of the three modes (NRM, ABM, ARM) is requested.
3. It specifies whether 3- or 7-bit sequence numbers are to be used.
If the other side accepts this request, then the HDLC module on that end
transmits an unnumbered acknowledged (UA) frame back to the initiating side. If
the request is rejected, then a disconnected mode (DM) frame is sent.
Data Transfer When the initialization has been requested and accepted, then a
logical connection is established. Both sides may begin to send user data in I-
frames, starting with sequence number 0.The N(S) and N(R) fields of the I-frame
are sequence numbers that support flow control and error control. An HDLC
module sending a sequence of I-frames will number them sequentially, modulo 8
or 128, depending on whether 3- or 7-bit sequence numbers are used, and place
the sequence number in N(S). N(R) is the acknowledgment for I-frames received;
it enables the HDLC module to indicate which number I-frame it expects to
receive next.
S-frames are also used for flow control and error control. The receive ready
(RR) frame acknowledges the last I-frame received by indicating the next I-frame
expected. The RR is used when there is no reverse user data traffic (I-frames) to
carry an acknowledgment. Receive not ready (RNR) acknowledges an I-frame, as
with RR, but also asks the peer entity to suspend transmission of I-frames. When the
entity that issued RNR is again ready, it sends an RR. REJ initiates the go-back-N
ARQ. It indicates that the last I-frame received has been rejected and that retrans-
mission of all I-frames beginning with number N(R) is required. Selective reject
(SREJ) is used to request retransmission of just a single frame.
Disconnect Either HDLC module can initiate a disconnect, either on its own ini-
tiative if there is some sort of fault, or at the request of its higher-layer user. HDLC
issues a disconnect by sending a disconnect (DISC) frame. The remote entity must
accept the disconnect by replying with a UA and informing its layer 3 user that the
connection has been terminated. Any outstanding unacknowledged I-frames may
be lost, and their recovery is the responsibility of higher layers.
Examples of Operation To better understand HDLC operation, several exam-
ples are presented in Figure 7.9. In the example diagrams, each arrow includes a leg-
end that specifies the frame name, the setting of the P/F bit, and, where appropriate,
the values of N(R) and N(S). The setting of the P or F bit is 1 if the designation is
present and 0 if absent.
7.3 / HIGH-LEVEL DATA LINK CONTROL (HDLC)
227
N(S) N(R)
A
B
A
B
A
B
Timeout
(a) Link setup and disconnect
(b) Two-way data exchange
(c) Busy condition
A
B
A
B
Timeout
(d) Reject recovery
(e) Timeout recovery
Figure 7.9
Examples of HDLC Operation
Figure 7.9a shows the frames involved in link setup and disconnect. The
HDLC protocol entity for one side issues an SABM command to the other side and
starts a timer. The other side, upon receiving the SABM, returns a UA response and
sets local variables and counters to their initial values. The initiating entity receives
the UA response, sets its variables and counters, and stops the timer. The logical
connection is now active, and both sides may begin transmitting frames. Should the
timer expire without a response to an SABM, the originator will repeat the SABM,
as illustrated. This would be repeated until a UA or DM is received or until, after a
given number of tries, the entity attempting initiation gives up and reports failure to
a management entity. In such a case, higher-layer intervention is necessary. The same
228
CHAPTER 7 / DATA LINK CONTROL PROTOCOLS
figure (Figure 7.9a) shows the disconnect procedure. One side issues a DISC com-
mand, and the other responds with a UA response.
Figure 7.9b illustrates the full-duplex exchange of I-frames. When an entity
sends a number of I-frames in a row with no incoming data, then the receive
sequence number is simply repeated (e.g., I,1,1; I,2.1 in the A-to-B direction). When
an entity receives a number of I-frames in a row with no outgoing frames, then the
receive sequence number in the next outgoing frame must reflect the cumulative
activity (e.g., I,1,3 in the B-to-A direction). Note that, in addition to I-frames, data
exchange may involve supervisory frames.
Figure 7.9c shows an operation involving a busy condition. Such a condition may
arise because an HDLC entity is not able to process I-frames as fast as they are arriv-
ing, or the intended user is not able to accept data as fast as they arrive in I-frames. In
either case, the entity’s receive buffer fills up and it must halt the incoming flow of
I-frames, using an RNR command. In this example, A issues an RNR, which requires
B to halt transmission of I-frames. The station receiving the RNR will usually poll the
busy station at some periodic interval by sending an RR with the P bit set. This
requires the other side to respond with either an RR or an RNR. When the busy con-
dition has cleared, A returns an RR, and I-frame transmission from B can resume.
An example of error recovery using the REJ command is shown in Figure
7.9d. In this example, A transmits I-frames numbered 3, 4, and 5. Number 4 suffers
an error and is lost. When B receives I-frame number 5, it discards this frame
because it is out of order and sends an REJ with an N(R) of 4. This causes A to ini-
tiate retransmission of I-frames previously sent, beginning with frame 4. A may con-
tinue to send additional frames after the retransmitted frames.
An example of error recovery using a timeout is shown in Figure 7.9e. In this
example, A transmits I-frame number 3 as the last in a sequence of I-frames. The frame
suffers an error. B detects the error and discards it. However, B cannot send an REJ,
because there is no way to know if this was an I-frame. If an error is detected in a frame,
all of the bits of that frame are suspect, and the receiver has no way to act upon it. A,
however, would have started a timer as the frame was transmitted.This timer has a dura-
tion long enough to span the expected response time.When the timer expires,A initiates
recovery action.This is usually done by polling the other side with an RR command with
the P bit set, to determine the status of the other side. Because the poll demands a
response, the entity will receive a frame containing an N(R) field and be able to pro-
ceed. In this case, the response indicates that frame 3 was lost, which A retransmits.
These examples are not exhaustive. However, they should give the reader a
good feel for the behavior of HDLC.
7.4
RECOMMENDED READING
An excellent and very detailed treatment of flow control and error control is to be found in
[BERT92]. [FIOR95] points out some of the real-world reliability problems with HDLC.
There is a large body of literature on the performance of ARQ link control protocols.
Three classic papers, well worth reading, are [BENE64], [KONH80], and [BUX80]. A readable
survey with simplified performance results is [LIN84]. A more recent analysis is [ZORZ96].
Two books with good coverage of link-level performance are [SPRA91] and [WALR98].
[KLEI92] and [KLEI93] are two key papers that look at the implications of gigabit
data rates on performance.
7.5 / KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
229
BENE64
Benice, R. “An Analysis of Retransmission Systems.” IEEE Transactions on
Communication Technology, December 1964.
BERT92
Bertsekas, D., and Gallager, R. Data Networks. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice
Hall, 1992.
BUX80
Bux, W.; Kummerle, K.; and Truong, H. “Balanced HDLC Procedures: A Perfor-
mance Analysis.” IEEE Transactions on Communications, November 1980.
FIOR95
Fiorini, D.; Chiani, M.; Tralli, V.; and Salati, C. “Can We Trust HDLC?” ACM
Computer Communications Review, October 1995.
KLEI92
Kleinrock, L. “The Latency/Bandwidth Tradeoff in Gigabit Networks.” IEEE
Communications Magazine, April 1992.
KLEI93
Kleinrock, L. “On the Modeling and Analysis of Computer Networks.”
Proceedings of the IEEE, August 1993.
KONH80
Konheim, A. “A Queuing Analysis of Two ARQ Protocols.” IEEE Transactions
on Communications, July 1980.
LIN84
Lin, S.; Costello, D.; and Miller, M. “Automatic-Repeat-Request Error-Control
Schemes.” IEEE Communications Magazine, December 1984.
SPRA91
Spragins, J.; Hammond, J.; and Pawlikowski, K. Telecommunications: Protocols
and Design. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1991.
WALR98
Walrand, J. Communication Networks: A First Course. New York: McGraw-
Hill, 1998.
ZORZ96
Zorzi, M., and Rao, R. “On the Use of Renewal Theory in the Analysis of
ARQ Protocols.” IEEE Transactions on Communications, September 1996.
7.5
KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
Key Terms
automatic repeat request
error control
high-level data link control
(ARQ)
flag field
(HDLC)
acknowledgment frame
flow control
piggybacking
data frame
frame
selective-reject ARQ
data link
frame synchronization
sliding-window flow control
data link control protocol
go-back-N ARQ
stop-and-wait ARQ
data transparency
header
stop-and-wait flow control
trailer
Review Questions
7.1. List and briefly define some of the requirements for effective communications over a
data link.
7.2. Define flow control.
7.3. Describe stop-and-wait flow control.
7.4. What are reasons for breaking a long data transmission up into a number of frames?
7.5. Describe sliding-window flow control.
7.6. What is the advantage of sliding-window flow control compared to stop-and-wait
flow control?
7.7. What is piggybacking?
230
CHAPTER 7 / DATA LINK CONTROL PROTOCOLS
7.8. Define error control.
7.9. List common ingredients for error control for a link control protocol.
7.10. Describe automatic repeat request (ARQ).
7.11. List and briefly define three versions of ARQ.
7.12. What are the station types supported by HDLC? Describe each.
7.13. What are the transfer modes supported by HDLC? Describe each.
7.14. What is the purpose of the flag field?
7.15. Define data transparency.
7.16. What are the three frame types supported by HDLC? Describe each.
Problems
7.1
Consider a half-duplex point-to-point link using a stop-and-wait scheme, in which a
series of messages is sent, with each message segmented into a number of frames.
Ignore errors and frame overhead.
a. What is the effect on line utilization of increasing the message size so that fewer
messages will be required? Other factors remain constant.
b. What is the effect on line utilization of increasing the number of frames for a con-
stant message size?
c. What is the effect on line utilization of increasing frame size?
7.2
The number of bits on a transmission line that are in the process of actively being trans-
mitted (i.e., the number of bits that have been transmitted but have not yet been received)
is referred to as the bit length of the line. Plot the line distance versus the transmission
speed for a bit length of 1000 bits. Assume a propagation velocity of
2 * 108 m/s.
7.3
A channel has a data rate of 4 kbps and a propagation delay of 20 ms. For what range
of frame sizes does stop-and-wait give an efficiency of at least 50%?
7.4
Consider the use of 1000-bit frames on a 1-Mbps satellite channel with a 270-ms
delay. What is the maximum link utilization for
a. Stop-and-wait flow control?
b. Continuous flow control with a window size of 7?
c. Continuous flow control with a window size of 127?
d. Continuous flow control with a window size of 255?
7.5
In Figure 7.10 frames are generated at node A and sent to node C through node B.
Determine the minimum data rate required between nodes B and C so that the
buffers of node B are not flooded, based on the following:
• The data rate between A and B is 100 kbps.
• The propagation delay is
for both lines.
5 ms/km
• There are full duplex lines between the nodes.
• All data frames are 1000 bits long; ACK frames are separate frames of negligible
length.
• Between A and B, a sliding-window protocol with a window size of 3 is used.
• Between B and C, stop-and-wait is used.
• There are no errors.
Hint: In order not to flood the buffers of B, the average number of frames enter-
ing and leaving B must be the same over a long interval.
4000 km
1000 km
A
B
C
Figure 7.10
Configuration for Problem 7.4
7.5 / KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
231
7.6
A channel has a data rate of R bps and a propagation delay of t s/km. The distance
between the sending and receiving nodes is L kilometers. Nodes exchange fixed-size
frames of B bits. Find a formula that gives the minimum sequence field size of the
frame as a function of R, t, B, and L.(considering maximum utilization). Assume that
ACK frames are negligible in size and the processing at the nodes is instantaneous.
7.7
No mention was made of reject (REJ) frames in the stop-and-wait ARQ discussion.
Why is it not necessary to have REJ0 and REJ1 for stop-and-wait ARQ?
7.8
Suppose that a selective-reject ARQ is used where
Show, by example, that a
W = 4.
3-bit sequence number is needed.
7.9
Using the same assumptions that are used for Figure 7.13 in Appendix 7A, plot line
utilization as a function of P, the probability that a single frame is in error for the fol-
lowing error-control techniques:
a. Stop-and-wait
b. Go-back-N with
W = 7
c. Go-back-N with
W = 127
d. Selective reject with
W = 7
e. Selective reject with
W = 127
Do all of the preceding for the following values of a: 0.1, 1, 10, 100. Draw conclusions
about which technique is appropriate for various ranges of a.
7.10
Two neighboring nodes (A and B) use a sliding-window protocol with a 3-bit
sequence number. As the ARQ mechanism, go-back-N is used with a window size of
4. Assuming A is transmitting and B is receiving, show the window positions for the
following succession of events:
a. Before A sends any frames
b. After A sends frames 0, 1, 2 and receives acknowledgment from B for 0 and 1
c. After A sends frames 3, 4, and 5 and B acknowledges 4 and the ACK is received
by A
7.11
Out-of-sequence acknowledgment cannot be used for selective-reject ARQ. That is, if
frame i is rejected by station X, all subsequent I-frames and RR frames sent by X
must have
until frame i is successfully received, even if other frames with
N1R2 = i
N1S2 7 i are successfully received in the meantime. One possible refinement is the
following:
in an I-frame or an RR frame is interpreted to mean that frame
N1R2 = j
j
- 1 and all preceding frames are accepted except for those that have been explicitly
rejected using an SREJ frame. Comment on any possible drawback to this scheme.
7.12
The ISO standard for HDLC procedures (ISO 4335) includes the following definitions:
(1) an REJ condition is considered cleared upon the receipt of an incoming I-frame
with an N(S) equal to the N(R) of the outgoing REJ frame; and (2) a SREJ condition is
considered cleared upon the receipt of an I-frame with an N(S) equal to the N(R) of the
SREJ frame. The standard includes rules concerning the relationship between REJ and
SREJ frames. These rules indicate what is allowable (in terms of transmitting REJ and
SREJ frames) if an REJ condition has not yet been cleared and what is allowable if
an SREJ condition has not yet been cleared. Deduce the rules and justify your answer.
7.13
Two stations communicate via a 1-Mbps satellite link with a propagation delay of
270 ms. The satellite serves merely to retransmit data received from one station to
another, with negligible switching delay. Using HDLC frames of 1024 bits with 3-bit
sequence numbers, what is the maximum possible data throughput; that is, what is the
throughput of data bits carried in HDLC frames?
7.14
It is clear that bit stuffing is needed for the address, data, and FCS fields of an HDLC
frame. Is it needed for the control field?
7.15
Because of the provision that a single flag can be used as both an ending and a start-
ing flag, a single bit error can cause problems.
a. Explain how a single bit error can merge two frames into one.
b. Explain how a single bit error can split a single frame into two frames.
232
CHAPTER 7 / DATA LINK CONTROL PROTOCOLS
7.16
Suggest improvements to the bit stuffing-algorithm to overcome the problems of sin-
gle-bit errors described in the preceding problem.
7.17
Using the example bit string of Figure 7.8, show the signal pattern on the line using
NRZ-L coding. Does this suggest a side benefit of bit stuffing?
7.18
Assume that the primary HDLC station in NRM has sent six I-frames to a secondary.
The primary’s N(S) count was three (011 binary) prior to sending the six frames. If the
poll bit is on in the sixth frame, what will be the N(R) count back from the secondary
after the last frame? Assume error-free operation.
7.19
Consider that several physical links connect two stations. We would like to use a
“multilink HDLC” that makes efficient use of these links by sending frames on a
FIFO basis on the next available link. What enhancements to HDLC are needed?
7.20
A World Wide Web server is usually set up to receive relatively small messages from
its clients but to transmit potentially very large messages to them. Explain, then,
which type of ARQ protocol (selective reject, go-back-N) would provide less of a bur-
den to a particularly popular WWW server.
APPENDIX 7A PERFORMANCE ISSUES
In this appendix, we examine some of the performance issues related to the use of sliding-
window flow control.
Stop-and-Wait Flow Control
Let us determine the maximum potential efficiency of a half-duplex point-to-point line using
the stop-and-wait scheme described in Section 7.1. Suppose that a long message is to be sent
as a sequence of frames
in the following fashion:
F1, F2, Á , Fn,
• Station S sends
F1.
1
• Station S2 sends an acknowledgment.
• Station S1 sends
F2.
• Station S2 sends an acknowledgment.
• Station S1 sends
Fn.
• Station S2 sends an acknowledgment.
The total time to send the data, T, can be expressed as
, where TF is the time to
T = nTF
send one frame and receive an acknowledgment. We can express TF as follows:
TF = tprop + tframe + tproc + tprop + tack + tproc
where
tprop
= propagation time from S1 to S2
tframe
= time to transmit a frame 1time for the transmitter to send
out all of the bits of the frame)
tproc
= processing time at each station to react to an incoming event
tack
= time to transmit an acknowledgment
Let us assume that the processing time is relatively negligible, and that the acknowl-
edgment frame is very small compared to a data frame, both of which are reasonable assump-
tions. Then we can express the total time to send the data as
APPENDIX 7A PERFORMANCE ISSUES
233
T = n12tprop + tframe2
Of that time, only
n * tframe
is actually spent transmitting data and the rest is overhead.
The utilization, or efficiency, of the line is
n * tframe
tframe
U =
=
(7.3)
n12tprop + tframe2
2tprop + t
frame
It is useful to define the parameter
(see Figure 7.2). Then
a = tprop/tframe
1
U =
(7.4)
1 + 2a
This is the maximum possible utilization of the link. Because the frame contains overhead
bits, actual utilization is lower. The parameter a is constant if both
and
are con-
tprop
tframe
stants, which is typically the case: Fixed-length frames are often used for all except the last
frame in a sequence, and the propagation delay is constant for point-to-point links.
To get some insight into Equation (7.4), let us derive a different expression for a.
We have
Propagation Time
a =
(7.5)
Transmission Time
The propagation time is equal to the distance d of the link divided by the velocity of propa-
gation V. For unguided transmission through air or space, V is the speed of light, approxi-
mately
For guided transmission, V is approximately 0.67 times the speed of light
3 * 108 m/s.
for optical fiber and copper media. The transmission time is equal to the length of the frame
in bits, L, divided by the data rate R. Therefore,
d/V
a =
= Rd
L/R
VL
Thus, for fixed-length frames, a is proportional to the data rate times the length of the
medium. A useful way of looking at a is that it represents the length of the medium in bits
compared to the frame length (L).
[R * 1d/v2]
With this interpretation in mind, Figure 7.2 illustrates Equation (7.4). In this figure,
transmission time is normalized to 1 and hence the propagation time, by Equation (7.5), is a.
For the case of
a 6 1,
the link’s bit length is less than that of the frame. The station T begins
transmitting a frame at time t0.At
t0
+ a, the leading edge of the frame reaches the receiving
station R, while T is still in the process of transmitting the frame. At
t0
+ 1,
T completes trans-
mission. At
t0
+ 1 + a, R has received the entire frame and immediately transmits a small
acknowledgment frame. This acknowledgment arrives back at T at
t0
+ 1 + 2a.
Total elapsed
time:
1 + 2a.
Total transmission time: 1. Hence utilization is
1/11 + 2a2.
The same result is
achieved with a 7 1, as illustrated in Figure 7.2.
EXAMPLE 7.6
First, consider a wide area network (WAN) using ATM (asyn-
chronous transfer mode, described in Part Three), with the two stations a thou-
sand kilometers apart. The standard ATM frame size (called a cell) is 424 bits
and one of the standardized data rates is 155.52 Mbps. Thus, transmission time
equals 424/(155.52 * 106) = 2.7 * 10-6 seconds. If we assume an optical fiber
234
CHAPTER 7 / DATA LINK CONTROL PROTOCOLS
link, then the propagation time is (106 meters)/(2 * 108 m/s) = 0.5 * 10-2 seconds.
Thus,
and efficiency is only
a = 10.5 * 10-22/12.7 * 10-62 L 1850,
1/3701 = 0.00027.
At the other extreme, in terms of distance, is the local area network (LAN).
Distances range from 0.1 to 10 km, with data rates of 10 Mbps to 1 Gbps; higher
data rates tend to be associated with shorter distances. Using a value of
V = 2 * 108 m/s, a frame size of 1000 bits, and a data rate of 10 Mbps, the value
of a is in the range of 0.005 to 0.5. This yields a utilization in the range of 0.5 to
0.99. For a 100-Mbps LAN, given the shorter distances, comparable utilizations
are possible.
We can see that LANs are typically quite efficient, whereas high-speed
WANs are not. As a final example, let us consider digital data transmission via
modem over a voice-grade line. A typical data rate is 56 kbps. Again, let us con-
sider a 1000-bit frame. The link distance can be anywhere from a few tens of
meters to thousands of kilometers. If we pick, say, as a short distance
d = 1000 m,
then a = (56,000 bps * 1000 m) /(2 * 108 m/s * 1000 bits) = 2.8 * 10-4, and utiliza-
tion is effectively 1.0. Even in a long-distance case, such as
we have
d = 5000 km,
a = 156,000 * 5 * 1062/12 * 108 * 1000 bits2 = 1.4
and efficiency equals 0.26.
Error-Free Sliding-Window Flow Control
For sliding-window flow control, the throughput on the line depends on both the window
size W and the value of a. For convenience, let us again normalize frame transmission time
to a value of 1; thus, the propagation time is a. Figure 7.11 illustrates the efficiency of a full
duplex point-to-point line.3 Station A begins to emit a sequence of frames at time
t
= 0.
The leading edge of the first frame reaches station B at
t
= a.
The first frame is entirely
absorbed by
t
= a + 1.
Assuming negligible processing time, B can immediately acknowl-
edge the first frame (ACK). Let us also assume that the acknowledgment frame is so small
that transmission time is negligible. Then the ACK reaches A at
To evaluate
t
= 2a + 1.
performance, we need to consider two cases:
• Case 1:
The acknowledgment for frame 1 reaches A before A has
W Ú 2a + 1.
exhausted its window. Thus, A can transmit continuously with no pause and normalized
throughput is 1.0.
• Case 2:
A exhausts its window at
and cannot send additional
W 6 2a + 1.
t
= W
frames until
Thus, normalized throughput is W time units out of a period of
t
= 2a + 1.
time units.
12a + 12
Therefore, we can express the utilization as
1
W Ú 2a + 1
(7.6)
W
U = c
W 6 2a + 1
2a + 1
3For simplicity, we assume that a is an integer, so that an integer number of frames exactly fills the line.
The argument does not change for noninteger values of a.
APPENDIX 7A PERFORMANCE ISSUES
235
t
0
A
B
Frame 1
1
A
B
Frame 2
Frame 1
2
A
B
Frame a
Frame (a
1)
Frame 2
Frame 1
a
A
B
Frame (a
1)
Frame a
Frame 3
Frame 2
a
1
A
B
A
Frame (2a
1)
Frame (2a)
Frame (a
3)
Frame (a
2)
2a
1
A
B
A
(a) W
2a
1
t
0
A
B
Frame 1
1
A
B
Frame a
Frame (a
1)
Frame 2
Frame 1
a
A
B
Frame (a
1)
Frame a
Frame 3
Frame 2
a
1
A
B
A
Frame W
Frame W
1
Frame (W a
2)
Frame (W a
1)
W
A
B
A
Frame W
Frame (a
2)
2a
1
A
B
A
(b) W
2a
1
Figure 7.11
Timing of Sliding-Window Protocol
Typically, the sequence number is provided for in an n-bit field and the maximum
window size is
(not
this is explained in Section 7.2). Figure 7.12 shows the
W = 2n - 1
2n;
maximum utilization achievable for window sizes of 1, 7, and 127 as a function of a. A window
size of 1 corresponds to stop and wait. A window size of 7 (3 bits) is adequate for many
applications. A window size of 127 (7 bits) is adequate for larger values of a, such as may be
found in high-speed WANs.
236
CHAPTER 7 / DATA LINK CONTROL PROTOCOLS
1.0
0.8
W
127
0.6
W
1
W
7
0.4
0.2
0.0
0.1
1
10
100
1000
a
Figure 7.12
Sliding-Window Utilization as a Function of a
ARQ
We have seen that sliding-window flow control is more efficient than stop-and-wait
flow control. We would expect that when error control functions are added that this
would still be true: that is, that go-back-N and selective-reject ARQ are more efficient
than stop-and-wait ARQ. Let us develop some approximations to determine the
degree of improvement to be expected.
First, consider stop-and-wait ARQ. With no errors, the maximum utilization is
as shown in Equation (7.4). We want to account for the possibility that some
1/11 + 2a2
frames are repeated because of bit errors. To start, note that the utilization U can be
defined as
Tf
U =
(7.7)
t
T
where
Tf = time for transmitter to emit a single frame
T
t
= total time that line is engaged in the transmission of a single frame
For error-free operation using stop-and-wait ARQ,
Tf
U =
Tf + 2Tp
where T is the propagation time. Dividing by T and remembering that
, we
a = Tp/Tf
p
f
again have Equation (7.4). If errors occur, we must modify Equation (7.7) to
Tf
U =
N
rTt
APPENDIX 7A PERFORMANCE ISSUES
237
where Nr is the expected number of transmissions of a frame. Thus, for stop-and-wait ARQ,
we have
1
U =
Nr11 + 2a2
A simple expression for N can be derived by considering the probability P that a single frame is
r
in error. If we assume that ACKs and NAKs are never in error, the probability that it will take
exactly k attempts to transmit a frame successfully is
That is, we have
Pk-111 - P2.
1k - 12
unsuccessful attempts followed by one successful attempt; the probability of this occurring is just
the product of the probability of the individual events occurring. Then4
q
q
1
N
= E[transmissions] =
1i * Pr[i transmissions]2
=
1iPi-111 - P22 =
r
a
a
i=1
i=1
1 - P
So we have
1 - P
Stop-and Wait:
U =
1 + 2a
For the sliding-window protocol, Equation (7.6) applies for error-free operation. For
selective-reject ARQ, we can use the same reasoning as applied to stop-and-wait ARQ. That is,
the error-free equations must be divided by
N
r.
Again,N
r
= 1/11 - P2.
So
1 - P
W Ú 2a + 1
W11 - P2
Selective Reject:
U = c
W 6 2a + 1
2a + 1
The same reasoning applies for go-back-N ARQ, but we must be more careful in
approximating
Each error generates a requirement to retransmit K frames rather than
N
r.
just one frame. Thus
N
r
= E[number of transmitted frames to successfully transmit one frame]
q
=
f1i2Pi-111 - P2
a
i=1
where f(i) is the total number of frames transmitted if the original frame must be transmitted
i times. This can be expressed as
f1i2 = 1 + 1i - 12K
= 11 - K2 + Ki
Substituting yields5
q
q
N
= 11 - K2
Pi-111 - P2 + K
iPi-111 - P2
r
a
a
i=1
i=1
K
= 1 - K +
1 - P
1 - P + KP
=
1 - P
By studying Figure 7.11, the reader should conclude that K is approximately equal to
12a + 12 for W Ú 12a + 12, and K = W for W 6 12a + 12. Thus
q
1
4This derivation uses the equality
1iXi-12 =
for
1-1 6 X 6 12.
a
i=1
11 - X22
q
1
5 This derivation uses the equality
Xi-1 =
for 1 - 1 6 X 6 12.
a
i=1
1 - X
238
CHAPTER 7 / DATA LINK CONTROL PROTOCOLS
1 - P
W Ú 2a + 1
1 + 2aP
Go-back-N:
U = d
W11 - P2
W 6 2a + 1
12a + 1211 - P + WP2
Note that for
both selective-reject and go-back-N ARQ reduce to stop and wait.
W = 1,
Figure 7.136 compares these three error control techniques for a value of
This
P = 10-3.
figure and the equations are only approximations. For example, we have ignored errors in
acknowledgment frames and, in the case of go-back-N, errors in retransmitted frames other
than the frame initially in error. However, the results do give an indication of the relative
performance of the three techniques.
1.0
W
127 Go-back-N
0.8
W
127
Selective-reject
0.6
W
7 Go-back-N &
W
7 Selective-reject
0.4
Stop-and-wait
0.2
0.0
0.1
1
10
100
1000
a
Figure 7.13
ARQ Utilization as a Function of a (P = 10-3)
6 For
W = 7,
the curves for go-back-N and selective-reject are so close that they appear to be identical in
the figure.
CHAPTER8
MULTIPLEXING
8.1
Frequency Division Multiplexing
8.2
Synchronous Time Division Multiplexing
8.3
Statistical Time Division Multiplexing
8.4
Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line
8.5
xDSL
8.6
Recommended Reading and Web Sites
8.7
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
239
240
CHAPTER 8 / MULTIPLEXING
It was impossible to get a conversation going, everybody was talking too much.
Yogi Berra
KEY POINTS
•
To make efficient use of high-speed telecommunications lines, some
form of multiplexing is used. Multiplexing allows several transmission
sources to share a larger transmission capacity. The two common
forms of multiplexing are frequency division multiplexing (FDM) and
time division multiplexing (TDM).
•
Frequency division multiplexing can be used with analog signals. A
number of signals are carried simultaneously on the same medium by
allocating to each signal a different frequency band. Modulation equip-
ment is needed to move each signal to the required frequency band, and
multiplexing equipment is needed to combine the modulated signals.
•
Synchronous time division multiplexing can be used with digital signals
or analog signals carrying digital data. In this form of multiplexing, data
from various sources are carried in repetitive frames. Each frame consists
of a set of time slots, and each source is assigned one or more time slots
per frame.The effect is to interleave bits of data from the various sources.
•
Statistical time division multiplexing provides a generally more effi-
cient service than synchronous TDM for the support of terminals.
With statistical TDM, time slots are not preassigned to particular data
sources. Rather, user data are buffered and transmitted as rapidly as
possible using available time slots.
In Chapter 7, we described efficient techniques for utilizing a data link under
heavy load. Specifically, with two devices connected by a point-to-point link, it is
generally desirable to have multiple frames outstanding so that the data link does
not become a bottleneck between the stations. Now consider the opposite prob-
lem. Typically, two communicating stations will not utilize the full capacity of a
data link. For efficiency, it should be possible to share that capacity. A generic
term for such sharing is multiplexing.
A common application of multiplexing is in long-haul communications.
Trunks on long-haul networks are high-capacity fiber, coaxial, or microwave
links. These links can carry large numbers of voice and data transmissions simul-
taneously using multiplexing.
Figure 8.1 depicts the multiplexing function in its simplest form.There are n
inputs to a multiplexer. The multiplexer is connected by a single data link to a
240
1 link, n channels
n inputs
MUX
DEMUX
n outputs
Figure 8.1
Multiplexing
demultiplexer. The link is able to carry n separate channels of data. The multi-
plexer combines (multiplexes) data from the n input lines and transmits over a
higher-capacity data link.The demultiplexer accepts the multiplexed data stream,
separates (demultiplexes) the data according to channel, and delivers data to the
appropriate output lines.
The widespread use of multiplexing in data communications can be
explained by the following:
• The higher the data rate, the more cost-effective the transmission facility.
That is, for a given application and over a given distance, the cost per kbps
declines with an increase in the data rate of the transmission facility. Simi-
larly, the cost of transmission and receiving equipment, per kbps, declines
with increasing data rate.
• Most individual data communicating devices require relatively modest
data rate support. For example, for many terminal and personal computer
applications that do not involve Web access or intensive graphics, a data
rate of between 9600 bps and 64 kbps is generally adequate.
The preceding statements were phrased in terms of data communicating
devices. Similar statements apply to voice communications. That is, the greater
the capacity of a transmission facility, in terms of voice channels, the less the cost
per individual voice channel, and the capacity required for a single voice channel
is modest.
This chapter concentrates on three types of multiplexing techniques. The
first, frequency division multiplexing (FDM), is the most heavily used and is
familiar to anyone who has ever used a radio or television set. The second is a
particular case of time division multiplexing (TDM) known as synchronous
TDM. This is commonly used for multiplexing digitized voice streams and data
streams. The third type seeks to improve on the efficiency of synchronous TDM
by adding complexity to the multiplexer. It is known by a variety of names,
including statistical TDM, asynchronous TDM, and intelligent TDM. This book
uses the term statistical TDM, which highlights one of its chief properties. Finally,
we look at the digital subscriber line, which combines FDM and synchronous
TDM technologies.
241
242
CHAPTER 8 / MULTIPLEXING
8.1
FREQUENCY DIVISION MULTIPLEXING
Characteristics
FDM is possible when the useful bandwidth of the transmission medium exceeds the
required bandwidth of signals to be transmitted. A number of signals can be carried
simultaneously if each signal is modulated onto a different carrier frequency and the
carrier frequencies are sufficiently separated that the bandwidths of the signals do
not significantly overlap. A general case of FDM is shown in Figure 8.2a. Six signal
f6
f5
f4
f3
f2
f1
(a) Frequency division multiplexing
(b) Time division multiplexing
Figure 8.2
FDM and TDM
8.1 / FREQUENCY DIVISION MULTIPLEXING
243
sources are fed into a multiplexer, which modulates each signal onto a different fre-
quency
Each modulated signal requires a certain bandwidth centered on
1f1 , Á , f62.
its carrier frequency, referred to as a channel. To prevent interference, the channels
are separated by guard bands, which are unused portions of the spectrum.
The composite signal transmitted across the medium is analog. Note, however,
that the input signals may be either digital or analog. In the case of digital input, the
input signals must be passed through modems to be converted to analog. In either
case, each input analog signal must then be modulated to move it to the appropriate
frequency band.
EXAMPLE 8.1
A familiar example of FDM is broadcast and cable television.
The television signal discussed in Chapter 3 fits comfortably into a 6-MHz
bandwidth. Figure 8.3 depicts the transmitted TV signal and its bandwidth.The
black-and-white video signal is AM modulated on a carrier signal
Because
fcv .
the baseband video signal has a bandwidth of 4 MHz, we would expect the mod-
ulated signal to have a bandwidth of 8 MHz centered on
To conserve band-
fcv .
width, the signal is passed through a sideband filter so that most of the lower
sideband is suppressed.The resulting signal extends from about
fcv - 0.75 MHz
to
A separate color carrier,
is used to transmit color informa-
fcv + 4.2 MHz.
fcc ,
tion. This is spaced far enough from
that there is essentially no interference.
fcv
Finally, the audio portion of the signal is modulated on
outside the effective
fca ,
bandwidth of the other two signals. A bandwidth of 50 kHz is allocated for the
audio signal. The composite signal fits into a 6-MHz bandwidth with the video,
color, and audio signal carriers at 1.25 MHz, 4.799545 MHz, and 5.75 MHz above
the lower edge of the band, respectively. Thus, multiple TV signals can be fre-
quency division multiplexed on a CATV cable, each with a bandwidth of 6 MHz.
Given the enormous bandwidth of coaxial cable (as much as 500 MHz), dozens
of TV signals can be simultaneously carried using FDM. Of course, using radio-
frequency propagation through the atmosphere is also a form of FDM.
A generic depiction of an FDM system is shown in Figure 8.4.A number of analog
or digital signals
are to be multiplexed onto the same transmission
[mi1t2, i = 1, n]
medium. Each signal
is modulated onto a carrier
; because multiple carriers are
f
i
mi1t2
to be used, each is referred to as a subcarrier. Any type of modulation may be used. The
resulting analog, modulated signals are then summed to produce a composite baseband1
signal
Figure 8.4b shows the result. The spectrum of signal
is shifted to
m
mi1t2
b1t2.
be centered on fi.For this scheme to work, f must be chosen so that the bandwidths
i
of the various signals do not significantly overlap. Otherwise, it will be impossible to
recover the original signals.
The composite signal may then be shifted as a whole to another carrier
frequency by an additional modulation step. We will see examples of this later.
This second modulation step need not use the same modulation technique as the first.
1The term baseband is used to designate the band of frequencies of the signal delivered by the source and
potentially used as a modulating signal. Typically, the spectrum of a baseband signal is significant in a
band that includes or is in the vicinity of f = 0.
244
CHAPTER 8 / MULTIPLEXING
Sync pulse
White level
Video signal
5.25
s
(a) Amplitude modulation with video signal
Video
Color
Audio
carrier
subcarrier
carrier
fcv
fcc
fca
fo
0.75 MHz
1.25 MHz
4.2 MHz
4.799545 MHz
5.75 MHz
6 MHz
(b) Magnitude spectrum of RF video signal
Figure 8.3
Transmitted TV Signal
The FDM signal s(t) has a total bandwidth B, where
. This analog
B 7 gn
i=1Bi
signal may be transmitted over a suitable medium. At the receiving end, the FDM
signal is demodulated to retrieve
which is then passed through n bandpass
mb1t2,
filters, each filter centered on f and having a bandwidth
for
In this
B
1 … i … n.
i,
i
way, the signal is again split into its component parts. Each component is then
demodulated to recover the original signal.
EXAMPLE 8.2
Let us consider a simple example of transmitting three voice
signals simultaneously over a medium. As was mentioned, the bandwidth of a
voice signal is generally taken to be 4 kHz, with an effective spectrum of 300 to
3400 Hz (Figure 8.5a). If such a signal is used to amplitude-modulate a 64-kHz
carrier, the spectrum of Figure 8.5b results. The modulated signal has a bandwidth
8.1 / FREQUENCY DIVISION MULTIPLEXING
245
of 8 kHz, extending from 60 to 68 kHz. To make efficient use of bandwidth, we
elect to transmit only the lower sideband. If three voice signals are used to mod-
ulate carriers at 64, 68, and 72 kHz, and only the lower sideband of each is taken,
the spectrum of Figure 8.5c results.
Figure 8.5 points out two problems that an FDM system must cope with. The
first is crosstalk, which may occur if the spectra of adjacent component signals over-
lap significantly. In the case of voice signals, with an effective bandwidth of only
3100 Hz (300 to 3400), a 4-kHz bandwidth is adequate. The spectra of signals pro-
duced by modems for voiceband transmission also fit well in this bandwidth.
m1(t)
s1(t)
Subcarrier modulator
f1
m2(t)
s2(t)
Subcarrier modulator
f2
mb(t)
s(t)
Transmitter
fc
Composite baseband
FDM signal
modulating signal
mn(t)
Subcarrier modulator
sn(t)
fn
(a) Transmitter
Mb( f )
f
f1
f2
fn
B1
B2
Bn
B
(b) Spectrum of composite baseband modulating signal
s1(t)
m1(t)
Bandpass filter, f1
Demodulator, f1
s2(t)
m2(t)
Bandpass filter, f2
Demodulator, f2
s(t)
mb(t)
Main
receiver
FDM signal
Composite baseband
sn(t)
mn(t)
signal
Bandpass filter, fn
Demodulator, fn
(c) Receiver
Figure 8.4
FDM System [COUC01]
246
CHAPTER 8 / MULTIPLEXING
f
0
(a) Spectrum of voice signal
Lower
Upper
sideband
sideband
f
60 kHz
64 kHz
68 kHz
(b) Spectrum of voice signal modulated on 64 kHz frequency
Lower
Lower
Lower
sideband, s1(t)
sideband, s2(t)
sideband, s3(t)
f
60 kHz
64 kHz
68 kHz
72 kHz
(c) Spectrum of composite signal using subcarriers at 64 kHz, 68 kHz, and 72 kHz
Figure 8.5
FDM of Three Voiceband Signals
Another potential problem is intermodulation noise, which was discussed in
Chapter 3. On a long link, the nonlinear effects of amplifiers on a signal in one chan-
nel could produce frequency components in other channels.
Analog Carrier Systems
The long-distance carrier system provided in the United States and throughout the
world is designed to transmit voiceband signals over high-capacity transmission
links, such as coaxial cable and microwave systems. The earliest, and still a very com-
mon, technique for utilizing high-capacity links is FDM. In the United States, AT&T
has designated a hierarchy of FDM schemes to accommodate transmission systems
of various capacities. A similar, but unfortunately not identical, system has been
adopted internationally under the auspices of ITU-T (Table 8.1).
At the first level of the AT&T hierarchy, 12 voice channels are combined to
produce a group signal with a bandwidth of
in the range 60
12 * 4 kHz = 48 kHz,
to 108 kHz. The signals are produced in a fashion similar to that described previ-
ously, using subcarrier frequencies of from 64 to 108 kHz in increments of 4 kHz.
8.1 / FREQUENCY DIVISION MULTIPLEXING
247
Table 8.1
North American and International FDM Carrier Standards
Number of Voice
Bandwidth
Spectrum
AT&T
ITU-T
Channels
12
48 kHz
60-108 kHz
Group
Group
60
240 kHz
312-552 kHz
Supergroup
Supergroup
300
1.232 MHz
812-2044 kHz
Mastergroup
600
2.52 MHz
564-3084 kHz
Mastergroup
900
3.872 MHz
8.516-12.388 MHz
Supermaster group
N * 600
Mastergroup multiplex
3,600
16.984 MHz
0.564-17.548 MHz
Jumbogroup
10,800
57.442 MHz
3.124-60.566 MHz
Jumbogroup multiplex
The next basic building block is the 60-channel supergroup, which is formed by fre-
quency division multiplexing five group signals. At this step, each group is treated as
a single signal with a 48-kHz bandwidth and is modulated by a subcarrier. The
subcarriers have frequencies from 420 to 612 kHz in increments of 48 kHz. The
resulting signal occupies 312 to 552 kHz.
There are several variations to supergroup formation. Each of the five inputs
to the supergroup multiplexer may be a group channel containing 12 multiplexed
voice signals. In addition, any signal up to 48 kHz wide whose bandwidth is con-
tained within 60 to 108 kHz may be used as input to the supergroup multiplexer. As
another variation, it is possible to combine 60 voiceband channels into a super-
group. This may reduce multiplexing costs where an interface with existing group
multiplexer is not required.
The next level of the hierarchy is the mastergroup, which combines 10 super-
group inputs. Again, any signal with a bandwidth of 240 kHz in the range 312 to
552 kHz can serve as input to the mastergroup multiplexer. The mastergroup has a
bandwidth of 2.52 MHz and can support 600 voice frequency (VF) channels. Higher-
level multiplexing is defined above the mastergroup, as shown in Table 8.1.
Note that the original voice or data signal may be modulated many times. For
example, a data signal may be encoded using QPSK to form an analog voice signal.This
signal could then be used to modulate a 76-kHz carrier to form a component of a group
signal. This group signal could then be used to modulate a 516-kHz carrier to form a
component of a supergroup signal. Each stage can distort the original data; this is so, for
example, if the modulator/multiplexer contains nonlinearities or introduces noise.
Wavelength Division Multiplexing
The true potential of optical fiber is fully exploited when multiple beams of light at
different frequencies are transmitted on the same fiber. This is a form of frequency
division multiplexing (FDM) but is commonly called wavelength division multiplex-
ing (WDM). With WDM, the light streaming through the fiber consists of many col-
ors, or wavelengths, each carrying a separate channel of data. In 1997, a landmark
was reached when Bell Laboratories was able to demonstrate a WDM system with
100 beams each operating at 10 Gbps, for a total data rate of 1 trillion bits per second
248
CHAPTER 8 / MULTIPLEXING
Table 8.2
ITU WDM Channel Spacing (G.692)
Frequency (THz)
Wavelength in
50 GHz
100 GHz
200 GHz
Vacuum (nm)
196.10
1528.77
X
X
X
196.05
1529.16
X
196.00
1529.55
X
X
195.95
1529.94
X
195.90
1530.33
X
X
X
195.85
1530.72
X
195.80
1531.12
X
X
195.75
1531.51
X
195.70
1531.90
X
X
X
195.65
1532.29
X
195.60
1532.68
X
X
192.10
1560.61
X
X
X
(also referred to as 1 terabit per second or 1 Tbps). Commercial systems with 160
channels of 10 Gbps are now available. In a lab environment, Alcatel has carried 256
channels at 39.8 Gbps each, a total of 10.1 Tbps, over a 100-km span.
A typical WDM system has the same general architecture as other FDM systems.
A number of sources generate a laser beam at different wavelengths. These are sent to
a multiplexer, which consolidates the sources for transmission over a single fiber line.
Optical amplifiers, typically spaced tens of kilometers apart, amplify all of the wave-
lengths simultaneously. Finally, the composite signal arrives at a demultiplexer, where
the component channels are separated and sent to receivers at the destination point.
Most WDM systems operate in the 1550-nm range. In early systems, 200 GHz
was allocated to each channel, but today most WDM systems use 50-GHz spacing.
The channel spacing defined in ITU-T G.692, which accommodates 80 50-GHz
channels, is summarized in Table 8.2.
The term dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) is often seen in
the literature. There is no official or standard definition of this term. The term con-
notes the use of more channels, more closely spaced, than ordinary WDM. In gen-
eral, a channel spacing of 200 GHz or less could be considered dense.
8.2
SYNCHRONOUS TIME DIVISION MULTIPLEXING
Characteristics
Synchronous time division multiplexing is possible when the achievable data rate
(sometimes, unfortunately, called bandwidth) of the medium exceeds the data rate
of digital signals to be transmitted. Multiple digital signals (or analog signals carry-
ing digital data) can be carried on a single transmission path by interleaving por-
tions of each signal in time. The interleaving can be at the bit level or in blocks of
8.2 / SYNCHRONOUS TIME DIVISION MULTIPLEXING
249
bytes or larger quantities. For example, the multiplexer in Figure 8.2b has six inputs
that might each be, say, 9.6 kbps. A single line with a capacity of at least 57.6 kbps
(plus overhead capacity) could accommodate all six sources.
A generic depiction of a synchronous TDM system is provided in Figure 8.6. A
number of signals
are to be multiplexed onto the same transmission
[mi1t2, i = 1, n]
medium. The signals carry digital data and are generally digital signals. The incoming
data from each source are briefly buffered. Each buffer is typically one bit or one
character in length. The buffers are scanned sequentially to form a composite digital
data stream
The scan operation is sufficiently rapid so that each buffer is emp-
mc1t2.
tied before more data can arrive. Thus, the data rate of
must at least equal the
mc1t2
sum of the data rates of the
The digital signal m
may be transmitted
c
m
1t2
i1t2.
m1(t)
m1(t)
Buffer
m2(t)
m2(t)
Buffer
mc(t)
s(t)
Scan
Modem
operation
TDM stream
Modulated
mn(t)
mn(t)
TDM stream
Buffer
(a) Transmitter
Frame
Frame
1
2
N
1
2
n
Time slot: may be
empty or occupied
(b) TDM frames
m1(t)
Buffer
m2(t)
Buffer
s(t)
mc(t)
Scan
Modem
operation
Modulated
TDM stream
TDM stream
mn(t)
Buffer
(c) Receiver
Figure 8.6
Synchronous TDM System
250
CHAPTER 8 / MULTIPLEXING
directly, or passed through a modem so that an analog signal is transmitted. In either
case, transmission is typically synchronous.
The transmitted data may have a format something like Figure 8.6b. The data
are organized into frames. Each frame contains a cycle of time slots. In each frame,
one or more slots are dedicated to each data source. The sequence of slots dedicated
to one source, from frame to frame, is called a channel. The slot length equals the
transmitter buffer length, typically a bit or a byte (character).
The byte-interleaving technique is used with asynchronous and synchronous
sources. Each time slot contains one character of data. Typically, the start and stop
bits of each character are eliminated before transmission and reinserted by the
receiver, thus improving efficiency. The bit-interleaving technique is used with syn-
chronous sources and may also be used with asynchronous sources. Each time slot
contains just one bit.
At the receiver, the interleaved data are demultiplexed and routed to the
appropriate destination buffer. For each input source
there is an identical out-
mi1t2,
put destination that will receive the output data at the same rate at which it was
generated.
Synchronous TDM is called synchronous not because synchronous transmis-
sion is used, but because the time slots are preassigned to sources and fixed. The
time slots for each source are transmitted whether or not the source has data to
send. This is, of course, also the case with FDM. In both cases, capacity is wasted to
achieve simplicity of implementation. Even when fixed assignment is used, however,
it is possible for a synchronous TDM device to handle sources of different data
rates. For example, the slowest input device could be assigned one slot per cycle,
while faster devices are assigned multiple slots per cycle.
TDM Link Control
The reader will note that the transmitted data stream depicted in Figure 8.6b does
not contain the headers and trailers that we have come to associate with synchronous
transmission. The reason is that the control mechanisms provided by a data link pro-
tocol are not needed. It is instructive to ponder this point, and we do so by consider-
ing two key data link control mechanisms: flow control and error control. It should be
clear that, as far as the multiplexer and demultiplexer (Figure 8.1) are concerned,
flow control is not needed. The data rate on the multiplexed line is fixed, and the mul-
tiplexer and demultiplexer are designed to operate at that rate. But suppose that one
of the individual output lines attaches to a device that is temporarily unable to accept
data. Should the transmission of TDM frames cease? Clearly not, because the
remaining output lines are expecting to receive data at predetermined times. The
solution is for the saturated output device to cause the flow of data from the corre-
sponding input device to cease. Thus, for a while, the channel in question will carry
empty slots, but the frames as a whole will maintain the same transmission rate.
The reasoning for error control is the same. It would not do to request retrans-
mission of an entire TDM frame because an error occurs on one channel. The
devices using the other channels do not want a retransmission nor would they know
that a retransmission has been requested by some other device on another channel.
Again, the solution is to apply error control on a per-channel basis.
8.2 / SYNCHRONOUS TIME DIVISION MULTIPLEXING
251
Input1
Output1
Input2
Output2
(a) Configuration
Input1
F1
f1
f1
d1
d1
d1
C1
A1
F1
f1
f1
d1
d1
d1
C1
A1
F1
Input2
F2
f2
f2
d2
d2
d2
d2
C2
A2
F2
f2
f2
d2
d2
d2
d2
C2
A2
F2
(b) Input data streams
f2
F1 d2 f1 d2 f1 d2 d1 d2 d1 C2 d1 A2 C1 F2 A1 f2 F1 f2
f1
d2 f1 d2 d1 d2 d1 d2 d1 C2 C1 A2 A1 F2 F1
(c) Multiplexed data stream
Legend:
F flag field
d one octet of data field
A address field
f
one octet of FCS field
C control field
Figure 8.7
Use of Data Link Control on TDM Channels
Flow control and error control can be provided on a per-channel basis
by using a data link control protocol such as HDLC on a per-channel basis. A
simplified example is shown in Figure 8.7. We assume two data sources, each using
HDLC. One is transmitting a stream of HDLC frames containing three octets of
data each, and the other is transmitting HDLC frames containing four octets of
data. For clarity, we assume that character-interleaved multiplexing is used,
although bit interleaving is more typical. Notice what is happening. The octets of the
HDLC frames from the two sources are shuffled together for transmission over the
multiplexed line. The reader may initially be uncomfortable with this diagram,
because the HDLC frames have lost their integrity in some sense. For example, each
frame check sequence (FCS) on the line applies to a disjointed set of bits. Even the
FCS is not in one piece. However, the pieces are reassembled correctly before they
are seen by the device on the other end of the HDLC protocol. In this sense, the mul-
tiplexing/demultiplexing operation is transparent to the attached stations; to each
communicating pair of stations, it appears that they have a dedicated link.
One refinement is needed in Figure 8.7. Both ends of the line need to be a com-
bination multiplexer/demultiplexer with a full-duplex line in between. Then each
channel consists of two sets of slots, one traveling in each direction. The individual
devices attached at each end can, in pairs, use HDLC to control their own channel.
The multiplexer/demultiplexers need not be concerned with these matters.
Framing We have seen that a link control protocol is not needed to manage the
overall TDM link. There is, however, a basic requirement for framing. Because we
are not providing flag or SYNC characters to bracket TDM frames, some means is
needed to assure frame synchronization. It is clearly important to maintain framing
synchronization because, if the source and destination are out of step, data on all
channels are lost.
Perhaps the most common mechanism for framing is known as added-digit
framing. In this scheme, typically, one control bit is added to each TDM frame.
An identifiable pattern of bits, from frame to frame, is used as a “control channel.”
252
CHAPTER 8 / MULTIPLEXING
A typical example is the alternating bit pattern, 101010
This is a pattern unlikely
to be sustained on a data channel. Thus, to synchronize, a receiver compares the
incoming bits of one frame position to the expected pattern. If the pattern does not
match, successive bit positions are searched until the pattern persists over multiple
frames. Once framing synchronization is established, the receiver continues to
monitor the framing bit channel. If the pattern breaks down, the receiver must
again enter a framing search mode.
Pulse Stuffing Perhaps the most difficult problem in the design of a synchro-
nous time division multiplexer is that of synchronizing the various data sources. If
each source has a separate clock, any variation among clocks could cause loss of
synchronization. Also, in some cases, the data rates of the input data streams are
not related by a simple rational number. For both these problems, a technique
known as pulse stuffing is an effective remedy. With pulse stuffing, the outgoing
data rate of the multiplexer, excluding framing bits, is higher than the sum of the
maximum instantaneous incoming rates.The extra capacity is used by stuffing extra
dummy bits or pulses into each incoming signal until its rate is raised to that of a
locally generated clock signal. The stuffed pulses are inserted at fixed locations in
the multiplexer frame format so that they may be identified and removed at the
demultiplexer.
EXAMPLE 8.3
An example, from [COUC01], illustrates the use of synchronous
TDM to multiplex digital and analog sources (Figure 8.8). Consider that there are
11 sources to be multiplexed on a single link:
Source 1:
Analog, 2-kHz bandwidth
Source 2:
Analog, 4-kHz bandwidth
Source 3:
Analog, 2-kHz bandwidth
Sources 4-11: Digital, 7200 bps synchronous
As a first step, the analog sources are converted to digital using PCM.
Recall from Chapter 5 that PCM is based on the sampling theorem, which dic-
tates that a signal be sampled at a rate equal to twice its bandwidth. Thus, the
required sampling rate is 4000 samples per second for sources 1 and 3, and 8000
samples per second for source 2. These samples, which are analog (PAM), must
then be quantized or digitized. Let us assume that 4 bits are used for each analog
sample. For convenience, these three sources will be multiplexed first, as a unit.
At a scan rate of 4 kHz, one PAM sample each is taken from sources 1 and 3, and
two PAM samples are taken from source 2 per scan. These four samples are inter-
leaved and converted to 4-bit PCM samples. Thus, a total of 16 bits is generated at
a rate of 4000 times per second, for a composite bit rate of 64 kbps.
For the digital sources, pulse stuffing is used to raise each source to a rate of
8 kbps, for an aggregate data rate of 64 kbps. A frame can consist of multiple
cycles of 32 bits, each containing 16 PCM bits and two bits from each of the eight
digital sources.
8.2 / SYNCHRONOUS TIME DIVISION MULTIPLEXING
253
From source 1
2 kHz, analog
TDM PAM signal
TDM PCM signal
4 bit
16 k samples/s
A/D
64 kbps
f
From source 2
4 kHz, analog
f
4 kHz
From source 3
2 kHz, analog
From source 4
Pulse
8 kbps, digital
7.2 kbps, digital
stuffing
From source 5
Pulse
8 kbps, digital
TDM PCM
7.2 kbps, digital
stuffing
Scan
output signal
operation
128 kbps
From source 11
Pulse
8 kbps, digital
7.2 kbps, digital
stuffing
Figure 8.8
TDM of Analog and Digital Sources [COUC01]
Digital Carrier Systems
The long-distance carrier system provided in the United States and throughout the
world was designed to transmit voice signals over high-capacity transmission links,
such as optical fiber, coaxial cable, and microwave. Part of the evolution of these
telecommunications networks to digital technology has been the adoption of
synchronous TDM transmission structures. In the United States, AT&T developed a
hierarchy of TDM structures of various capacities; this structure is used in Canada
and Japan as well as the United States. A similar, but unfortunately not identical,
hierarchy has been adopted internationally under the auspices of ITU-T (Table 8.3).
Table 8.3
North American and International TDM Carrier Standards
North American
International (ITU-T)
Number of
Number of
Designation
Voice
Data Rate
Level
Voice
Data Rate
Channels
(Mbps)
Channels
(Mbps)
DS-1
24
1.544
1
30
2.048
DS-1C
48
3.152
2
120
8.448
DS-2
96
6.312
3
480
34.368
DS-3
672
44.736
4
1920
139.264
DS-4
4032
274.176
5
7680
565.148
254
CHAPTER 8 / MULTIPLEXING
The basis of the TDM hierarchy (in North America and Japan) is the DS-1
transmission format (Figure 8.9), which multiplexes 24 channels. Each frame con-
tains 8 bits per channel plus a framing bit for
For voice
24 * 8 + 1 = 193 bits.
transmission, the following rules apply. Each channel contains one word of digitized
voice data. The original analog voice signal is digitized using pulse code modulation
(PCM) at a rate of 8000 samples per second. Therefore, each channel slot and hence
each frame must repeat 8000 times per second. With a frame length of 193 bits, we
have a data rate of
For five of every six frames, 8-bit
8000 * 193 = 1.544 Mbps.
PCM samples are used. For every sixth frame, each channel contains a 7-bit PCM
word plus a signaling bit. The signaling bits form a stream for each voice channel
that contains network control and routing information. For example, control signals
are used to establish a connection or terminate a call.
The same DS-1 format is used to provide digital data service. For compatibility
with voice, the same 1.544-Mbps data rate is used. In this case, 23 channels of data
are provided. The twenty-fourth channel position is reserved for a special sync byte,
which allows faster and more reliable reframing following a framing error. Within
each channel, 7 bits per frame are used for data, with the eighth bit used to indicate
whether the channel, for that frame, contains user data or system control data. With
7 bits per channel, and because each frame is repeated 8000 times per second, a data
rate of 56 kbps can be provided per channel. Lower data rates are provided using a
technique known as subrate multiplexing. For this technique, an additional bit is
robbed from each channel to indicate which subrate multiplexing rate is being pro-
vided. This leaves a total capacity per channel of
This capacity
6 * 8000 = 48 kbps.
is used to multiplex five 9.6-kbps channels, ten 4.8-kbps channels, or twenty 2.4-kbps
channels. For example, if channel 2 is used to provide 9.6-kbps service, then up to
five data subchannels share this channel. The data for each subchannel appear as six
bits in channel 2 every fifth frame.
125
s
5.18
s
Channel 24
Channel 1
Channel 2
0.6477
s
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
193 bits
Notes:
1. The first bit is a framing bit, used for synchronization.
2. Voice channels:
8-bit PCM used on five of six frames.
7-bit PCM used on every sixth frame; bit 8 of each channel is a signaling bit.
3. Data channels:
Channel 24 is used for signaling only in some schemes.
Bits 1-7 used for 56-kbps service
Bits 2-7 used for 9.6-, 4.8-, and 2.4-kbps service.
Figure 8.9
DS-1 Transmission Format
8.2 / SYNCHRONOUS TIME DIVISION MULTIPLEXING
255
Finally, the DS-1 format can be used to carry a mixture of voice and data chan-
nels. In this case, all 24 channels are utilized; no sync byte is provided.
Above the DS-1 data rate of 1.544 Mbps, higher-level multiplexing is achieved
by interleaving bits from DS-1 inputs. For example, the DS-2 transmission system
combines four DS-1 inputs into a 6.312-Mbps stream. Data from the four sources
are interleaved 12 bits at a time. Note that
The remaining
1.544 * 4 = 6.176 Mbps.
capacity is used for framing and control bits.
SONET/SDH
SONET (Synchronous Optical Network) is an optical transmission interface orig-
inally proposed by BellCore and standardized by ANSI. A compatible version,
referred to as Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH), has been published by ITU-
T in Recommendation G.707.2 SONET is intended to provide a specification for
taking advantage of the high-speed digital transmission capability of optical fiber.
Signal Hierarchy The SONET specification defines a hierarchy of standardized
digital data rates (Table 8.4). The lowest level, referred to as STS-1 (Synchronous
Transport Signal level 1) or OC-1 (Optical Carrier level 1),3 is 51.84 Mbps. This rate
can be used to carry a single DS-3 signal or a group of lower-rate signals, such as
DS1, DS1C, DS2, plus ITU-T rates (e.g., 2.048 Mbps).
Multiple STS-1 signals can be combined to form an STS-N signal. The signal is
created by interleaving bytes from N STS-1 signals that are mutually synchronized.
For the ITU-T Synchronous Digital Hierarchy, the lowest rate is 155.52 Mbps,
which is designated STM-1. This corresponds to SONET STS-3.
Table 8.4
SONET/SDH Signal Hierarchy
SONET Designation
ITU-T Designation
Data Rate
Payload Rate (Mbps)
STS-1/OC-1
51.84 Mbps
50.112 Mbps
STS-3/OC-3
STM-1
155.52 Mbps
150.336 Mbps
STS-9/OC-9
466.56 Mbps
451.008 Mbps
STS-12/OC-12
STM-4
622.08 Mbps
601.344 Mbps
STS-18/OC-18
933.12 Mbps
902.016 Mbps
STS-24/OC-24
1.24416 Gbps
1.202688 Gbps
STS-36/OC-36
1.86624 Gbps
1.804032 Gbps
STS-48/OC-48
STM-16
2.48832 Gbps
2.405376 Gbps
STS-96/OC-96
4.87664 Gbps
4.810752 Gbps
STS-192/OC-192
STM-64
9.95328 Gbps
9.621504 Gbps
STS-768
STM-256
39.81312 Gbps
38.486016 Gbps
STS-3072
159.25248 Gbps
153.944064 Gbps
2In what follows, we will use the term SONET to refer to both specifications. Where differences exist,
these will be addressed.
3An OC-N rate is the optical equivalent of an STS-N electrical signal. End-user devices transmit and
receive electrical signals; these must be converted to and from optical signals for transmission over opti-
cal fiber.
256
CHAPTER 8 / MULTIPLEXING
90 octets
Transport overhead
Synchronous payload envelope (SPE)
3 octets
87 octets
Section overhead
3 octets
Line overhead
6 octets
Path overhead
1 octet
(a) STS-1 frame format
270
N octets
Section overhead
STM-N payload
9
N octets
261
N octets
9 octets
(b) STM-N frame format
Figure 8.10
SONET/SDH Frame Formats
Frame Format The basic SONET building block is the STS-1 frame, which con-
sists of 810 octets and is transmitted once every
for an overall data rate of
125 ms,
51.84 Mbps (Figure 8.10a). The frame can logically be viewed as a matrix of 9 rows
of 90 octets each, with transmission being one row at a time, from left to right and
top to bottom.
The first three columns
13 octets * 9 rows = 27 octets2
of the frame are
devoted to overhead octets. Nine octets are devoted to section-related overhead
Framing
Framing
STS-ID
Trace
A1
A2
C1
J1
Section
BIP-8
Orderwire
User
BIP-8
overhead
B1
E1
F1
B3
DataCom
DataCom
DataCom
Signal
D1
D2
D3
Label C2
Pointer
Pointer
Pointer
Path
H1
H2
Action H3
Status G1
BIP-8
APS
APS
User
B2
K1
K2
F2
DataCom
DataCom
DataCom
Multiframe
Line
D4
D5
D6
H4
overhead
DataCom
DataCom
DataCom
Growth
D7
D8
D9
Z3
DataCom
DataCom
DataCom
Growth
D10
D11
D12
Z4
Growth
Growth
Orderwire
Growth
Z1
Z2
E2
Z5
(a)
Transport overhead
(b) Path overhead
Figure 8.11
SONET STS-1 Overhead Octets
8.2 / SYNCHRONOUS TIME DIVISION MULTIPLEXING
257
Table 8.5
STS-1 Overhead Bits
Section Overhead
A1, A2:
Framing
bytes = F6,28
hex; used to synchronize the beginning of the frame.
C1:
STS-1 ID identifies the STS-1 number (1 to N) for each STS-1 within an STS-N multiplex.
B1:
Bit-interleaved parity byte providing even parity over previous STS-N frame after scrambling;
the ith bit of this octet contains the even parity value calculated from the ith bit position of all
octets in the previous frame.
E1:
Section level 64-kbps PCM orderwire; optional 64-kbps voice channel to be used between
section terminating equipment, hubs, and remote terminals.
F1:
64-kbps channel set aside for user purposes.
D1-D3:
192-kbps data communications channel for alarms, maintenance, control, and administration
between sections.
Line Overhead
H1-H3:
Pointer bytes used in frame alignment and frequency adjustment of payload data.
B2:
Bit-interleaved parity for line level error monitoring.
K1, K2:
Two bytes allocated for signaling between line level automatic protection switching equipment;
uses a bit-oriented protocol that provides for error protection and management of the SONET
optical link.
D4-D12:
576-kbps data communications channel for alarms, maintenance, control, monitoring, and
administration at the line level.
Z1, Z2:
Reserved for future use.
E2:
64-kbps PCM voice channel for line level orderwire.
Path Overhead
J1:
64-kbps channel used to send repetitively a 64-octet fixed-length string so a receiving terminal
can continuously verify the integrity of a path; the contents of the message are user
programmable.
B3:
Bit-interleaved parity at the path level, calculated over all bits of the previous SPE.
C2:
STS path signal label to designate equipped versus unequipped STS signals. Unequipped means
the line connection is complete but there is no path data to send. For equipped signals, the label
can indicate the specific STS payload mapping that might be needed in receiving terminals to
interpret the payloads.
G1:
Status byte sent from path terminating equipment back to path originating equipment to convey
status of terminating equipment and path error performance.
F2:
64-kbps channel for path user.
H4:
Multiframe indicator for payloads needing frames that are longer than a single STS frame;
multiframe indicators are used when packing lower rate channels (virtual tributaries) into
the SPE.
Z3-Z5:
Reserved for future use.
and 18 octets are devoted to line overhead. Figure 8.11a shows the arrangement of
overhead octets, and Table 8.5 defines the various fields.
The remainder of the frame is payload. The payload includes a column of
path overhead, which is not necessarily in the first available column position; the
line overhead contains a pointer that indicates where the path overhead starts.
258
CHAPTER 8 / MULTIPLEXING
Figure 8.11b shows the arrangement of path overhead octets, and Table 8.5 defines
these.
Figure 8.10b shows the general format for higher-rate frames, using the ITU-T
designation.
8.3
STATISTICAL TIME DIVISION MULTIPLEXING
Characteristics
In a synchronous time division multiplexer, it is often the case that many of the time
slots in a frame are wasted. A typical application of a synchronous TDM involves
linking a number of terminals to a shared computer port. Even if all terminals are
actively in use, most of the time there is no data transfer at any particular terminal.
An alternative to synchronous TDM is statistical TDM. The statistical multi-
plexer exploits this common property of data transmission by dynamically allocating
time slots on demand. As with a synchronous TDM, the statistical multiplexer has a
number of I/O lines on one side and a higher-speed multiplexed line on the other.
Each I/O line has a buffer associated with it. In the case of the statistical multiplexer,
there are n I/O lines, but only k, where
time slots available on the TDM
k 6 n,
frame. For input, the function of the multiplexer is to scan the input buffers, collecting
data until a frame is filled, and then send the frame. On output, the multiplexer
receives a frame and distributes the slots of data to the appropriate output buffers.
Because statistical TDM takes advantage of the fact that the attached devices
are not all transmitting all of the time, the data rate on the multiplexed line is less
than the sum of the data rates of the attached devices. Thus, a statistical multiplexer
can use a lower data rate to support as many devices as a synchronous multiplexer.
Alternatively, if a statistical multiplexer and a synchronous multiplexer both use a
link of the same data rate, the statistical multiplexer can support more devices.
Figure 8.12 contrasts statistical and synchronous TDM. The figure depicts four
data sources and shows the data produced in four time epochs
In the
1t0 , t1 , t2 , t32.
case of the synchronous multiplexer, the multiplexer has an effective output rate of
four times the data rate of any of the input devices. During each epoch, data are col-
lected from all four sources and sent out. For example, in the first epoch, sources C
and D produce no data. Thus, two of the four time slots transmitted by the multi-
plexer are empty.
In contrast, the statistical multiplexer does not send empty slots if there are
data to send. Thus, during the first epoch, only slots for A and B are sent. However,
the positional significance of the slots is lost in this scheme. It is not known ahead of
time which source’s data will be in any particular slot. Because data arrive from and
are distributed to I/O lines unpredictably, address information is required to assure
proper delivery. Thus, there is more overhead per slot for statistical TDM because
each slot carries an address as well as data.
The frame structure used by a statistical multiplexer has an impact on perfor-
mance. Clearly, it is desirable to minimize overhead bits to improve throughput. Typi-
cally, a statistical TDM system will use a synchronous protocol such as HDLC. Within
the HDLC frame, the data frame must contain control bits for the multiplexing
8.3 / STATISTICAL TIME DIVISION MULTIPLEXING
259
t0
t1
t2
t3
t4
Users
A
B
To remote computer
C
D
Synchronous time
LEGEND
A1
B1
C1
D1
A2
B2
C2
D2
division multiplexing
Data
First cycle
Second cycle
Address
Statistical time
Unused
A1
B1
B2
C2
Unused capacity
division multiplexing
capacity
First cycle
Second cycle
Figure 8.12
Synchronous TDM Compared with Statistical TDM
operation. Figure 8.13 shows two possible formats. In the first case, only one source of
data is included per frame. That source is identified by an address. The length of the
data field is variable, and its end is marked by the end of the overall frame. This
scheme can work well under light load but is quite inefficient under heavy load.
A way to improve efficiency is to allow multiple data sources to be packaged
in a single frame. Now, however, some means is needed to specify the length of
data for each source.Thus, the statistical TDM subframe consists of a sequence of
data fields, each labeled with an address and a length. Several techniques can be
used to make this approach even more efficient.The address field can be reduced
by using relative addressing.That is, each address specifies the number of the cur-
rent source relative to the previous source, modulo the total number of sources.
So, for example, instead of an 8-bit address field, a 4-bit field might suffice.
Flag
Address
Control
Statistical
TDM subframe
FCS
Flag
(a) Overall frame
Address
Data
(b) Subframe with one source per frame
Address
Length
Data
Address
Length
Data
(c) Subframe with multiple sources per frame
Figure 8.13
Statistical TDM Frame Formats
260
CHAPTER 8 / MULTIPLEXING
Another refinement is to use a 2-bit label with the length field. A value of 00,
01, or 10 corresponds to a data field of 1, 2, or 3 bytes; no length field is necessary. A
value of 11 indicates that a length field is included.
Yet another approach is to multiplex one character from each data source that
has a character to send in a single data frame. In this case the frame begins with a bit
map that has a bit length equal to the number of sources. For each source that trans-
mits a character during a given frame, the corresponding bit is set to one.
Performance
We have said that the data rate of the output of a statistical multiplexer is less than the
sum of the data rates of the inputs. This is allowable because it is anticipated that the
average amount of input is less than the capacity of the multiplexed line. The difficulty
with this approach is that, while the average aggregate input may be less than the mul-
tiplexed line capacity, there may be peak periods when the input exceeds capacity.
The solution to this problem is to include a buffer in the multiplexer to hold
temporary excess input. Table 8.6 gives an example of the behavior of such systems.
We assume 10 sources, each capable of 1000 bps, and we assume that the average
Table 8.6
Example of Statistical Multiplexer Performance
Capacity
5000 bps
Capacity
7000 bps
Inputa
Output
Backlog
Output
Backlog
6
5
1
6
0
9
5
5
7
2
3
5
3
5
0
7
5
5
7
0
2
5
2
2
0
2
4
0
2
0
2
2
0
2
0
3
3
0
3
0
4
4
0
4
0
6
5
1
6
0
1
2
0
1
0
10
5
5
7
3
7
5
7
7
3
5
5
7
7
1
8
5
10
7
2
3
5
8
5
0
6
5
9
6
0
2
5
6
2
0
9
5
10
7
2
5
5
10
7
0
aInput = 10 sources, 1000 bps/source; average input rate =
50% of maximum.
8.3 / STATISTICAL TIME DIVISION MULTIPLEXING
261
input per source is 50% of its maximum. Thus, on average, the input load is 5000 bps.
Two cases are shown: multiplexers of output capacity 5000 bps and 7000 bps. The
entries in the table show the number of bits input from the 10 devices each millisec-
ond and the output from the multiplexer. When the input exceeds the output, back-
log develops that must be buffered.
There is a tradeoff between the size of the buffer used and the data rate of the
line. We would like to use the smallest possible buffer and the smallest possible data
rate, but a reduction in one requires an increase in the other. Note that we are not so
much concerned with the cost of the buffer—memory is cheap—as we are with the
fact that the more buffering there is, the longer the delay. Thus, the tradeoff is really
one between system response time and the speed of the multiplexed line. In this sec-
tion, we present some approximate measures that examine this tradeoff. These are
sufficient for most purposes.
Let us define the following parameters for a statistical time division multiplexer:
I = number of input sources
R = data rate of each source, bps
M = effective capacity of multiplexed line, bps
a = mean fraction of time each source is transmitting, 0 6 a 6 1
M
K =
= ratio of multiplexed line capacity to total maximum input
IR
We have defined M taking into account the overhead bits introduced by the
multiplexer. That is, M represents the maximum rate at which data bits can be
transmitted.
The parameter K is a measure of the compression achieved by the multiplexer.
For example, for a given data rate M, if
there are four times as many
K = 0.25,
devices being handled as by a synchronous time division multiplexer using the same
link capacity. The value of K can be bounded:
a 6 K 6 1
A value of
corresponds to a synchronous time division multiplexer, because
K = 1
the system has the capacity to service all input devices at the same time. If
K 6 a,
the input will exceed the multiplexer’s capacity.
Some results can be obtained by viewing the multiplexer as a single-server
queue. A queuing situation arises when a “customer” arrives at a service facility and,
finding it busy, is forced to wait. The delay incurred by a customer is the time spent
waiting in the queue plus the time for the service. The delay depends on the pattern
of arriving traffic and the characteristics of the server. Table 8.7 summarizes results
for the case of random (Poisson) arrivals and constant service time. For details, see
Appendix I. This model is easily related to the statistical multiplexer:
l = aIR
1
Ts =
M
262
CHAPTER 8 / MULTIPLEXING
Table 8.7
Single-Server Queues with Constant Service Times and Poisson (Random) Arrivals
Parameters
l = mean number of arrivals per second
= service time for each arrival
T
s
r = utilization; fraction of time server is busy
N = mean number of items in system (waiting and being served)
= residence time; mean time an item spends in system (waiting and being served)
T
r
= standard deviation of
T
r
sr
Formulas
r = lT
s
r2
N =
+ r
211 - r2
T
s12 - p2
T
r
=
211 - p2
1
3r2
5r3
r4
sr =
+
-
1 - rBr-
2
6
12
The average arrival rate l, in bps, is the total potential input (IR) times the fraction
of time a that each source is transmitting. The service time
T
s,
in seconds, is the time
it takes to transmit one bit, which is 1/M. Note that
aIR
a
l
r = lT
s
=
M =
K =
M
The parameter r is the utilization or fraction of total link capacity being used. For
example, if the capacity M is 50 kbps and
the load on the system is 25 kbps.
r = 0.5,
The parameter N in Table 8.7 is a measure of the amount of buffer space being used
in the multiplexer. Finally, T is a measure of the average delay encountered by an
r
input source.
Figure 8.14 gives some insight into the nature of the tradeoff between system
response time and the speed of the multiplexed line. It assumes that data are being
transmitted in 1000-bit frames. Figure 8.14a shows the average number of frames
that must be buffered as a function of the average utilization of the multiplexed line.
The utilization is expressed as a percentage of the total line capacity. Thus, if the
average input load is 5000 bps, the utilization is 100% for a line capacity of 5000 bps
and about 71% for a line capacity of 7000 bps. Figure 8.14b shows the average delay
experienced by a frame as a function of utilization and data rate. Note that as the
utilization rises, so do the buffer requirements and the delay. A utilization above
80% is clearly undesirable.
Note that the average buffer size being used depends only on
r,
and not
directly on M. For example, consider the following two cases:
8.3 / STATISTICAL TIME DIVISION MULTIPLEXING
263
10
8
6
4
2
0
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
Line utilization
(a) Mean buffer size versus utilization
400
100
M
25 kbps
40
M
50 kbps
M
100 kbps
10
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
Line utilization
(b) Mean delay versus utilization
Figure 8.14
Buffer Size and Delay for a Statistical Multiplexer
Case I
Case II
I = 10
I = 100
R = 100 bps
R = 100 bps
a = 0.4
a = 0.4
M = 500 bps
M = 5000 bps
In both cases, the value of r is 0.8 and the mean buffer size is
Thus, pro-
N = 2.4.
portionately, a smaller amount of buffer space per source is needed for multiplexers
that handle a larger number of sources. Figure 8.14b also shows that the average
delay will be smaller as the link capacity increases, for constant utilization.
So far, we have been considering average queue length, and hence the average
amount of buffer capacity needed. Of course, there will be some fixed upper bound
on the buffer size available. The variance of the queue size grows with utilization.
Thus, at a higher level of utilization, a larger buffer is needed to hold the backlog.
Even so, there is always a finite probability that the buffer will overflow. Figure 8.15
264
CHAPTER 8 / MULTIPLEXING
103
104
105
106
107
108
108
1010
10
20
30
40
50
Buffer size (characters)
Figure 8.15
Probabilty of Overflow as a Function
of Buffer Size
shows the strong dependence of overflow probability on utilization. This figure and
Figure 8.14, suggest that utilization above about 0.8 is undesirable.
Cable Modem
To support data transfer to and from a cable modem, a cable TV provider dedicates
two channels, one for transmission in each direction. Each channel is shared by a
number of subscribers, and so some scheme is needed for allocating capacity on
each channel for transmission. Typically, a form of statistical TDM is used, as illus-
trated in Figure
8.16. In the downstream direction, cable headend to subscriber, a
cable scheduler delivers data in the form of small packets. Because the channel is
shared by a number of subscribers, if more than one subscriber is active, each sub-
scriber gets only a fraction of the downstream capacity. An individual cable modem
subscriber may experience access speeds from 500 kbps to 1.5 Mbps or more,
depending on the network architecture and traffic load. The downstream direction
is also used to grant time slots to subscribers. When a subscriber has data to trans-
mit, it must first request time slots on the shared upstream channel. Each subscriber
is given dedicated time slots for this request purpose. The headend scheduler
responds to a request packet by sending back an assignment of future time slots to
be used by this subscriber. Thus, a number of subscribers can share the same
upstream channel without conflict.
8.4 / ASYMMETRIC DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER LINE
265
Grant:
Grant:
Station A
Station B
can send
can send
Data:
Data:
1 minislot
2 minislots
for station X
for station Y
of data
of data
Data:
Data:
from station X
Data: from
Request from
from station B
station A
station C
Figure 8.16
Cable Modem Scheme [DUTT99]
8.4
ASYMMETRIC DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER LINE
In the implementation and deployment of a high-speed wide area public digital net-
work, the most challenging part is the link between subscriber and network: the dig-
ital subscriber line. With billions of potential endpoints worldwide, the prospect of
installing new cable for each new customer is daunting. Instead, network designers
have sought ways of exploiting the installed base of twisted-pair wire that links
virtually all residential and business customers to telephone networks. These links
were installed to carry voice-grade signals in a bandwidth from zero to 4 kHz. How-
ever, the wires are capable of transmitting signals over a far broader spectrum—
1 MHz or more.
ADSL is the most widely publicized of a family of new modem technologies
designed to provide high-speed digital data transmission over ordinary telephone
wire. ADSL is now being offered by a number of carriers and is defined in an ANSI
standard. In this section, we first look at the overall design of ADSL and then exam-
ine the key underlying technology, known as DMT.
ADSL Design
The term asymmetric refers to the fact that ADSL provides more capacity down-
stream (from the carrier’s central office to the customer’s site) than upstream (from
customer to carrier). ADSL was originally targeted at the expected need for video
on demand and related services. This application has not materialized. However,
since the introduction of ADSL technology, the demand for high-speed access to the
Internet has grown. Typically, the user requires far higher capacity for downstream
than for upstream transmission. Most user transmissions are in the form of key-
board strokes or transmission of short e-mail messages, whereas incoming traffic,
especially Web traffic, can involve large amounts of data and include images or even
video. Thus, ADSL provides a perfect fit for the Internet requirement.
266
CHAPTER 8 / MULTIPLEXING
POTS
Upstream
Downstream
0
20 25
200
250
1000 kHz
(a) Frequency division multiplexing
POTS
Upstream
Downstream
0
20 25
Variable
1000 kHz
Echo
cancellation
(b) Echo cancellation
Figure 8.17
ADSL Channel Configuration
ADSL uses frequency division multiplexing (FDM) in a novel way to exploit
the 1-MHz capacity of twisted pair. There are three elements of the ADSL strategy
(Figure 8.17):
• Reserve lowest 25 kHz for voice, known as POTS (plain old telephone ser-
vice). The voice is carried only in the 0 to 4 kHz band; the additional band-
width is to prevent crosstalk between the voice and data channels.
• Use either echo cancellation4 or FDM to allocate two bands, a smaller
upstream band and a larger downstream band.
• Use FDM within the upstream and downstream bands. In this case, a single bit
stream is split into multiple parallel bit streams and each portion is carried in a
separate frequency band.
4Echo cancellation is a signal processing technique that allows transmission of digital signals in both
directions on a single transmission line simultaneously. In essence, a transmitter must subtract the echo of
its own transmission from the incoming signal to recover the signal sent by the other side.
8.4 / ASYMMETRIC DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER LINE
267
When echo cancellation is used, the entire frequency band for the upstream
channel overlaps the lower portion of the downstream channel. This has two advan-
tages compared to the use of distinct frequency bands for upstream and downstream.
• The higher the frequency, the greater the attenuation.With the use of echo cancel-
lation, more of the downstream bandwidth is in the “good” part of the spectrum.
• The echo cancellation design is more flexible for changing upstream capacity.
The upstream channel can be extended upward without running into the
downstream; instead, the area of overlap is extended.
The disadvantage of the use of echo cancellation is the need for echo cancella-
tion logic on both ends of the line.
The ADSL scheme provides a range of up to 5.5 km, depending on the diame-
ter of the cable and its quality. This is sufficient to cover about 95% of all U.S. sub-
scriber lines and should provide comparable coverage in other nations.
Discrete Multitone
Discrete multitone (DMT) uses multiple carrier signals at different frequencies,
sending some of the bits on each channel. The available transmission band
(upstream or downstream) is divided into a number of 4-kHz subchannels. On ini-
tialization, the DMT modem sends out test signals on each subchannel to determine
the signal-to-noise ratio. The modem then assigns more bits to channels with better
signal transmission qualities and less bits to channels with poorer signal transmis-
sion qualities. Figure 8.18 illustrates this process. Each subchannel can carry a data
rate of from 0 to 60 kbps. The figure shows a typical situation in which there is
increasing attenuation and hence decreasing signal-to-noise ratio at higher frequen-
cies. As a result, the higher-frequency subchannels carry less of the load.
Figure 8.19 provides a general block diagram for DMT transmission. After ini-
tialization, the bit stream to be transmitted is divided into a number of substreams,
one for each subchannel that will carry data. The sum of the data rates of the sub-
streams is equal to the total data rate. Each substream is then converted to an ana-
log signal using quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), described in Chapter 5.
This scheme works easily because of QAM’s ability to assign different numbers of
bits per transmitted signal. Each QAM signal occupies a distinct frequency band, so
these signals can be combined by simple addition to produce the composite signal
for transmission.
Bits per hertz
Line gain
Bits per hertz
Frequency
Frequency
Frequency
Figure 8.18
DMT Bits per Channel Allocation
268
CHAPTER 8 / MULTIPLEXING
cos 2P f1t
x1(t)
A1R bps
QAM
x2(t)
A2R bps
QAM
Binary
DMT
input
cos 2P f2t
signal out
serial-to-parallel
x(t)
converter
y(t)
R bps
cos 2P fnt
0
i
1
xn(t)
i
1
AnR bps
fi
1
fi
4 kHz
QAM
Figure 8.19
DMT Transmitter
Present ADSL/DMT designs employ 256 downstream subchannels. In theory,
with each 4-kHz subchannel carrying 60 kbps, it would be possible to transmit at a
rate of 15.36 Mbps. In practice, transmission impairments prevent attainment of this
data rate. Current implementations operate at from 1.5 to 9 Mbps, depending on
line distance and quality.
8.5
xDSL
ADSL is one of a number of recent schemes for providing high-speed digital trans-
mission of the subscriber line. Table 8.8 summarizes and compares some of the most
important of these new schemes, which collectively are referred to as xDSL.
High Data Rate Digital Subscriber Line
HDSL was developed in the late 1980s by BellCore to provide a more cost-effective
means of delivering a T1 data rate (1.544 Mbps). The standard T1 line uses alternate
mark inversion (AMI) coding, which occupies a bandwidth of about 1.5 MHz. Because
such high frequencies are involved, the attenuation characteristics limit the use of T1
to a distance of about 1 km between repeaters. Thus, for many subscriber lines one or
more repeaters are required, which adds to the installation and maintenance expense.
HDSL uses the 2B1Q coding scheme to provide a data rate of up to 2 Mbps
over two twisted-pair lines within a bandwidth that extends only up to about 196
kHz. This enables a range of about 3.7 km to be achieved.
8.6 / RECOMMENDED READING AND WEB SITES
269
Table 8.8
Comparison of xDSL Alternatives
ADSL
HDSL
SDSL
VDSL
Data rate
1.5 to 9 Mbps
1.544 or 2.048 Mbps
1.544 or 2.048 Mbps
13 to 52 Mbps
downstream
downstream
16 to 640 kbps
1.5 to 2.3 Mbps
upstream
upstream
Mode
Asymmetric
Symmetric
Symmetric
Asymmetric
Copper pairs
1
2
1
1
Range (24-gauge UTP)
3.7 to 5.5 km
3.7 km
3.0 km
1.4 km
Signaling
Analog
Digital
Digital
Analog
Line code
CAP/DMT
2B1Q
2B1Q
DMT
Frequency
1 to 5 MHz
196 kHz
196 kHz
Ú 10 MHz
Bits/cycle
Varies
4
4
Varies
UTP = unshielded twisted pair
Single Line Digital Subscriber Line
Although HDSL is attractive for replacing existing T1 lines, it is not suitable for resi-
dential subscribers because it requires two twisted pair, whereas the typical residen-
tial subscriber has a single twisted pair. SDSL was developed to provide the same type
of service as HDSL but over a single twisted-pair line. As with HDSL, 2B1Q coding is
used. Echo cancellation is used to achieve full-duplex transmission over a single pair.
Very High Data Rate Digital Subscriber Line
One of the newest xDSL schemes is VDSL. As of this writing, many of the details of
this signaling specification remain to be worked out. The objective is to provide a
scheme similar to ADSL at a much higher data rate by sacrificing distance. The
likely signaling technique is DMT/QAM.
VDSL does not use echo cancellation but provides separate bands for differ-
ent services, with the following tentative allocation:
• POTS: 0-4 kHz
• ISDN: 4-80 kHz
• Upstream: 300-700 kHz
• Downstream:
Ú 1 MHz
8.6
RECOMMENDED READING AND WEB SITES
A discussion of FDM and TDM carrier systems can be found in [FREE98] and [CARN99].
SONET is treated in greater depth in [STAL99] and in [TEKT01]. Useful articles on SONET
are [BALL89] and [BOEH90[ A good overview of WDM is [MUKH00].
Two good articles on cable modems are [FELL01] and [CICI01].
[MAXW96] provides a useful a discussion of ADSL. Recommended treatments of
xDSL are [HAWL97] and [HUMP97].
270
CHAPTER 8 / MULTIPLEXING
BALL89
Ballart, R., and Ching, Y. “SONET: Now It’s the Standard Optical Network.”
IEEE Communications Magazine, March 1989.
BOEH90
Boehm, R. “Progress in Standardization of SONET.” IEEE LCS, May 1990.
CARN99
Carne, E. Telecommunications Primer: Data, Voice, and Video Communications.
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1999.
CICI01
Ciciora, W. “The Cable Modem.” IEEE Spectrum, June 2001.
FELL01
Fellows, D., and Jones, D. “DOCSIS Cable Modem Technology.” IEEE
Communications Magazine, March 2001.
FREE98
Freeman, R. Telecommunications Transmission Handbook. New York: Wiley,
1998.
HAWL97
Hawley, G. “Systems Considerations for the Use of xDSL Technology for
Data Access.” IEEE Communications Magazine, March 1997.
HUMP97
Humphrey, M., and Freeman, J. “How xDSL Supports Broadband Services to
the Home.” IEEE Network, January/March 1997.
MAXW96
Maxwell, K. “Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line: Interim Technology for
the Next Forty Years.” IEEE Communications Magazine, October 1996.
MUKH00 Mukherjee, B. “WDM Optical Communication Networks: Progress and
Challenges.” IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications, October 2000.
STAL99
Stallings, W. ISDN and Broadband ISDN, with Frame Relay and ATM. Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1999.
TEKT01
Tektronix. SONET Telecommunications Standard Primer. Tektronix White
Paper, 2001, www.tektronix.com/optical.
Recommended Web sites:
• DSL Forum: Includes a FAQ and technical information about ADSL and other xDSL
technologies
• Network and Services Integration Forum: Discusses current products, technology,
and standards
• SONET Home Page: Useful links, tutorials, white papers, FAQs
8.7
KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
Key Terms
ADSL
dense WDM
frame
baseband
digital carrier system
frequency division
cable modem
discrete multitone
multiplexing (FDM)
channel
downstream
multiplexer
demultiplexer
echo cancellation
multiplexing
8.7 / KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
271
pulse stuffing
subcarrier
upstream
SDH
synchronous TDM
wavelength division
SONET
time division multiplexing
multiplexing (WDM)
statistical TDM
(TDM)
Review Questions
8.1. Why is multiplexing so cost-effective?
8.2. How is interference avoided by using frequency division multiplexing?
8.3. What is echo cancellation?
8.4. Define upstream and downstream with respect to subscriber lines.
8.5. Explain how synchronous time division multiplexing (TDM) works.
8.6. Why is a statistical time division multiplexer more efficient than a synchronous time
division multiplexer?
8.7. Using Table 8.3 as a guide, indicate the major difference between North American
and international TDM carrier standards.
8.8. Using Figure 8.14 as a guide, indicate the relationship between buffer size and line
utilization.
Problems
8.1
The information in four analog signals is to be multiplexed and transmitted over a
telephone channel that has a 400- to 3100-Hz bandpass. Each of the analog baseband
signals is bandlimited to 500 Hz. Design a communication system (block diagram)
that will allow the transmission of these four sources over the telephone channel using
a. Frequency division multiplexing with SSB (single sideband) subcarriers
b. Time division multiplexing using PCM; assume 4-bit samples
Show the block diagrams of the complete system, including the transmission, channel,
and reception portions. Include the bandwidths of the signals at the various points in
the systems.
8.2
To paraphrase Lincoln: . . . all of the channel some of the time, some of the channel all
of the time
Refer to Figure 8.2 and relate the preceding to the figure.
8.3
Consider a transmission system using frequency division multiplexing. What cost fac-
tors are involved in adding one more pair of stations to the system?
8.4
In synchronous TDM, it is possible to interleave bits, one bit from each channel par-
ticipating in a cycle. If the channel is using a self-clocking code to assist synchroniza-
tion, might this bit interleaving introduce problems because there is not a continuous
stream of bits from one source?
8.5
Why is it that the start and stop bits can be eliminated when character interleaving is
used in synchronous TDM?
8.6
Explain in terms of data link control and physical layer concepts how error and flow
control are accomplished in synchronous time division multiplexing.
8.7
One of the 193 bits in the DS-1 transmission format is used for frame synchroniza-
tion. Explain its use.
8.8
In the DS-1 format, what is the control signal data rate for each voice channel?
8.9
Twenty-four voice signals are to be multiplexed and transmitted over twisted pair.
What is the bandwidth required for FDM? Assuming a bandwidth efficiency (ratio of
272
CHAPTER 8 / MULTIPLEXING
data rate to transmission bandwidth, as explained in Chapter 5) of 1 bps/Hz, what is
the bandwidth required for TDM using PCM?
8.10
Draw a block diagram similar to Figure 8.8 for a TDM PCM system that will accommo-
date four 300-bps, synchronous, digital inputs and one analog input with a bandwidth of
500 Hz. Assume that the analog samples will be encoded into 4-bit PCM words.
8.11
A character-interleaved time division multiplexer is used to combine the data streams
of a number of 110-bps asynchronous terminals for data transmission over a 2400-bps
digital line. Each terminal sends asynchronous characters consisting of 7 data bits, 1 par-
ity bit, 1 start bit, and 2 stop bits. Assume that one synchronization character is sent
every 19 data characters and, in addition, at least 3% of the line capacity is reserved for
pulse stuffing to accommodate speed variations from the various terminals.
a. Determine the number of bits per character.
b. Determine the number of terminals that can be accommodated by the multiplexer.
c. Sketch a possible framing pattern for the multiplexer.
8.12
Find the number of the following devices that could be accommodated by a T1-type
TDM line if 1% of the T1 line capacity is reserved for synchronization purposes.
a.
110-bps teleprinter terminals
b.
300-bps computer terminals
c.
1200-bps computer terminals
d.
9600-bps computer output ports
e.
64-kbps PCM voice-frequency lines
How would these numbers change if each of the sources were transmitting an average
of 10% of the time and a statistical multiplexer was used?
8.13
Ten 9600-bps lines are to be multiplexed using TDM. Ignoring overhead bits in the
TDM frame, what is the total capacity required for synchronous TDM? Assuming
that we wish to limit average TDM link utilization to 0.8, and assuming that each
TDM link is busy 50% of the time, what is the capacity required for statistical
TDM?
8.14
A synchronous nonstatistical TDM is to be used to combine four 4.8-kbps and one
9.6-kbps signals for transmission over a single leased line. For framing, a block of
7 bits (pattern 1011101) is inserted for each 48 data bits. The reframing algorithm (at
the receiving demultiplex) is as follows:
1. Arbitrarily select a bit position.
2. Consider the block of 7 contiguous bits starting with that position.
3. Observe that block of 7 bits each frame for 12 consecutive frames.
4. If 10 of the 12 blocks match the framing pattern the system is “in-frame”; if not
advance one bit position and return to step 2.
a. Draw the multiplexed bit stream (note that the 9.6kbps input may be treated as
two 4.8-kbps inputs).
b. What is the % overhead in the multiplexed bit stream?
c. What is the multiplexed output bit rate?
d. What is the minimum reframe time? What is the maximum reframe time?
What is the Average reframe time?
8.15
A company has two locations: a headquarters and a factory about 25 km away. The
factory has four 300-bps terminals that communicate with the central computer facil-
ities over leased voice-grade lines. The company is considering installing TDM equip-
ment so that only one line will be needed. What cost factors should be considered in
the decision?
8.16
In synchronous TDM, the I/O lines serviced by the two multiplexers may be either
synchronous or asynchronous although the channel between the two multiplexers
must be synchronous. Is there any inconsistency in this? Why or why not?
8.17
Assume that you are to design a TDM carrier, say DS-489, to support 30 voice channels
using 6-bit samples and a structure similar to DS-1. Determine the required bit rate.
8.7 / KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
273
8.18
For a statistical time division multiplexer, define the following parameters:
F = frame length, bits
OH = overhead in a frame, bits
L = load of data in the frame, bps
C = capacity of link, bps
a. Express F as a function of the other parameters. Explain why F can be viewed as a
variable rather than a constant.
b. Plot F versus L for
and values of
80, 120. Comment on
C = 9.6 kbps
OH = 40,
the results and compare to Figure 8.14.
c. Plot F versus L for
and values of
and 8.2 kbps. Comment
OH = 40
C = 9.6 kbps
on the results and compare to Figure 8.14.
8.19
In statistical TDM, there may be a length field. What alternative could there be to the
inclusion of a length field? What problem might this solution cause and how could it
be solved?
CHAPTER
9
SPREAD SPECTRUM
9.1
The Concept of Spread Spectrum
9.2
Frequency-Hopping Spread Spectrum
9.3
Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum
9.4
Code Division Multiple Access
9.5
Recommended Reading and Web Site
9.6
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
274
All creative people want to do the unexpected.
—Ecstasy and Me: My Life as a Woman, Hedy Lamarr
KEY POINTS
• Spread spectrum is an important form of encoding for wireless com-
munications. The use of spread spectrum makes jamming and inter-
ception more difficult and provides improved reception.
• The basic idea of spread spectrum is to modulate the signal so as to
increase significantly the bandwidth (spread the spectrum) of the
signal to be transmitted.
• Frequency-hopping spread spectrum is a form of spread spectrum in
which the signal is broadcast over a seemingly random series of radio
frequencies, hopping from frequency to frequency at fixed intervals.
• Direct sequence spread spectrum is a form of spread spectrum in
which each bit in the original signal is represented by multiple bits in
the transmitted signal, using a spreading code.
• Code division multiple access exploits the nature of spread spectrum
transmission to enable multiple users to independently use the same
bandwidth with very little interference.
Spread spectrum is an important form of encoding for wireless communications.
This technique does not fit neatly into the categories defined in Chapter 5, as it
can be used to transmit either analog or digital data, using an analog signal.
The spread spectrum technique was developed initially for military and
intelligence requirements. The essential idea is to spread the information signal
over a wider bandwidth to make jamming and interception more difficult. The
first type of spread spectrum developed is known as frequency hopping.1 A more
recent type of spread spectrum is direct sequence. Both of these techniques are
used in various wireless communications standards and products.
After a brief overview, we look at these two spread spectrum techniques.
We then examine a multiple access technique based on spread spectrum.
1
Spread spectrum (using frequency hopping) was invented, believe it or not, by Hollywood screen siren
Hedy Lamarr in 1940 at the age of 26. She and a partner who later joined her effort were granted a patent
in 1942 (U.S. Patent 2,292,387; 11 August 1942). Lamarr considered this her contribution to the war effort
and never profited from her invention.
275
276
CHAPTER 9 / SPREAD SPECTRUM
9.1
THE CONCEPT OF SPREAD SPECTRUM
Figure 9.1 highlights the key characteristics of any spread spectrum system. Input is
fed into a channel encoder that produces an analog signal with a relatively narrow
bandwidth around some center frequency. This signal is further modulated using a
sequence of digits known as a spreading code or spreading sequence. Typically, but
not always, the spreading code is generated by a pseudonoise, or pseudorandom
number, generator. The effect of this modulation is to increase significantly the
bandwidth (spread the spectrum) of the signal to be transmitted. On the receiving
end, the same digit sequence is used to demodulate the spread spectrum signal.
Finally, the signal is fed into a channel decoder to recover the data.
Several things can be gained from this apparent waste of spectrum:
• The signals gains immunity from various kinds of noise and multipath distor-
tion. The earliest applications of spread spectrum were military, where it was
used for its immunity to jamming.
• It can also be used for hiding and encrypting signals. Only a recipient who
knows the spreading code can recover the encoded information.
• Several users can independently use the same higher bandwidth with very lit-
tle interference. This property is used in cellular telephony applications, with a
technique know as code division multiplexing (CDM) or code division multi-
ple access (CDMA).
A comment about pseudorandom numbers is in order. These numbers are
generated by an algorithm using some initial value called the seed. The algorithm is
deterministic and therefore produces sequences of numbers that are not statistically
random. However, if the algorithm is good, the resulting sequences will pass many
reasonable tests of randomness. Such numbers are often referred to as pseudoran-
dom numbers.2 The important point is that unless you know the algorithm and the
seed, it is impractical to predict the sequence. Hence, only a receiver that shares this
information with a transmitter will be able to decode the signal successfully.
Input data
Output data
Channel
De-
Channel
Modulator
Channel
encoder
modulator
decoder
Spreading
Spreading
code
code
Pseudonoise
Pseudonoise
generator
generator
Figure 9.1
General Model of Spread Spectrum Digital Communication System
2See [STAL05] for a more detailed discussion of pseudorandom numbers.
9.2 / FREQUENCY-HOPPING SPREAD SPECTRUM
277
9.2
FREQUENCY-HOPPING SPREAD SPECTRUM
With frequency-hopping spread spectrum (FHSS), the signal is broadcast over a
seemingly random series of radio frequencies, hopping from frequency to frequency
at fixed intervals. A receiver, hopping between frequencies in synchronization with
the transmitter, picks up the message. Would-be eavesdroppers hear only unintelli-
gible blips. Attempts to jam the signal on one frequency succeed only at knocking
out a few bits of it.
Basic Approach
Figure 9.2 shows an example of a frequency-hopping signal. A number of channels are
allocated for the FH signal.Typically, there are 2kcarrier frequencies forming 2kchan-
nels. The spacing between carrier frequencies and hence the width of each channel
usually corresponds to the bandwidth of the input signal. The transmitter operates in
one channel at a time for a fixed interval; for example, the IEEE 802.11 standard uses
a 300-ms interval. During that interval, some number of bits (possibly a fraction of a
bit, as discussed subsequently) is transmitted using some encoding scheme. A spread-
ing code dictates the sequence of channels used. Both transmitter and receiver use the
same code to tune into a sequence of channels in synchronization.
A typical block diagram for a frequency-hopping system is shown in Figure
9.3. For transmission, binary data are fed into a modulator using some digital-to-
analog encoding scheme, such as frequency shift keying (FSK) or binary phase shift
keying (BPSK). The resulting signal is centered on some base frequency. A
pseudonoise (PN), or pseudorandom number, source serves as an index into a table
of frequencies; this is the spreading code referred to previously. Each k bits of the
PN source specifies one of the
carrier frequencies. At each successive interval
2k
(each k PN bits), a new carrier frequency is selected. This frequency is then modu-
lated by the signal produced from the initial modulator to produce a new signal with
the same shape but now centered on the selected carrier frequency. On reception,
Frequency
f8
Energy
f7
5
8
3
7
1
4
6
2
f
6
f5
f4
f3
f2
f1
f1
f2
f3
f4
f5
f6
f7
f8
Frequency
Time
(a) Channel assignment
(b) Channel use
Figure 9.2
Frequency-Hopping Example
278
CHAPTER 9 / SPREAD SPECTRUM
FH spreader
Spread spectrum
Bandpass
Binary data
Modulator
sd(t)
signal
filter (about
(FSK or
sum
BPSK)
s(t)
frequency)
c(t)
Frequency
synthesizer
Pseudonoise
Channel
bit source
table
(a) Transmitter
FH despreader
Spread spectrum
Bandpass
s(t)
Demodulator
Binary data
signal
filter (about
(FSK or
difference
sd(t)
BPSK)
frequency)
c(t)
Frequency
synthesizer
Pseudonoise
Channel
bit source
table
(b) Receiver
Figure 9.3
Frequency-Hopping Spread Spectrum System
the spread spectrum signal is demodulated using the same sequence of PN-derived
frequencies and then demodulated to produce the output data.
Figure 9.3 indicates that the two signals are multiplied. Let us give an example
of how this works, using BFSK as the data modulation scheme. We can define the
FSK input to the FHSS system as [compare to Equation (5.3)]:
sd1t2 = A cos12p1f0 + 0.51bi
+ 12
¢f2t2
for iT 6 t 6 1i + 12T
(9.1)
where
A = amplitude of signal
f0 = base frequency
bi = value of the ith bit of data 1 + 1 for binary 1, - 1 for binary 02
¢f = frequency separation
T = bit duration; data rate = 1/T
9.2 / FREQUENCY-HOPPING SPREAD SPECTRUM
279
Thus, during the ith bit interval, the frequency of the data signal is f if the data bit is
0
-1
and
f
0
+ ¢f
if the data bit is
+ 1.
The frequency synthesizer generates a constant-frequency tone whose fre-
quency hops among a set of 2k frequencies, with the hopping pattern determined by
k bits from the PN sequence. For simplicity, assume the duration of one hop is the
same as the duration of one bit and we ignore phase differences between the data
signal
and the spreading signal, also called a chipping signal, c(t). Then the
sd1t2
product signal during the ith hop (during the ith bit) is
p1t2 = sd1t2c1t2 = A cos12p1f0 + 0.51bi + 12
¢f2t2cos12pf
it2
where f is the frequency of the signal generated by the frequency synthesizer during
i
the ith hop. Using the trigonometric identity3
cos1x2cos1y2 = 11/221cos1x + y2 +
cos1x - y22, we have
p1t2 = 0.5A [cos12p1f0 + 0.51bi + 12
¢f + f
i2t2
+ cos12p1f0 + 0.51bi + 12
¢f - f
i2t2]
A bandpass filter (Figure 9.3) is used to block the difference frequency and pass the
sum frequency, yielding an FHSS signal of
s1t2 = 0.5A cos12p1f0 + 0.51bi + 12
¢f + f
i
2t2
(9.2)
Thus, during the ith bit interval, the frequency of the data signal is
if the data
f0 + f
i
bit is
-1
and
f
0
+ f
i
+ ¢f
if the data bit is
+ 1.
At the receiver, a signal of the form s(t) just defined will be received. This is
multiplied by a replica of the spreading signal to yield a product signal of the form
p1t2 = s1t2c1t2 = 0.5A cos12p1f0 + 0.51bi + 12
¢f + f
i2t2cos12pfit2
Again using the trigonometric identity, we have
p1t2 = s1t2c1t2 = 0.25A[cos12p1f0 + 0.51bi + 12
¢f + f
i
+ f
i2t2
+ cos12p1f0 + 0.51bi + 12
¢f2t2]
A bandpass filter (Figure 9.3) is used to block the sum frequency and pass the dif-
ference frequency, yielding a signal of the form of
defined in Equation (9.1):
sd1t2,
0.25A cos12p1f0 + 0.51bi + 12
¢f2t2
FHSS Using MFSK
A common modulation technique used in conjunction with FHSS is multiple FSK
(MFSK). Recall from Chapter 5 that MFSK uses
different frequencies
M = 2L
to encode the digital input L bits at a time. The transmitted signal is of the form
(Equation 5.4):
si1t2 = A cos 2pfit,
1 … i … M
3See the math refresher document at WilliamStallings.com/StudentSupport.html for a summary of
trigonometric identities.
280
CHAPTER 9 / SPREAD SPECTRUM
where
f
i
= fc + 12i - 1 - M2fd
fc = denotes the carrier frequency
fd = denotes the difference frequency
M = number of different signal elements = 2L
L = number of bits per signal element
For FHSS, the MFSK signal is translated to a new frequency every T seconds
c
by modulating the MFSK signal with the FHSS carrier signal. The effect is to
translate the MFSK signal into the appropriate FHSS channel. For a data rate of R,
the duration of a bit is
seconds and the duration of a signal element is
T = 1/R
= LT seconds. If T is greater than or equal to
, the spreading modulation is
T
c
s
T
s
referred to as slow-frequency-hop spread spectrum; otherwise it is known as
fast-frequency-hop spread spectrum.4 To summarize,
Slow-frequency-hop spread spectrum
Tc Ú Ts
Fast-frequency-hop spread spectrum
Tc 6 Ts
Figure 9.4 shows an example of slow FHSS, using the MFSK example from
Figure 5.9. Here we have
which means that four different frequencies are
M = 4,
used to encode the data input 2 bits at a time. Each signal element is a discrete fre-
quency tone, and the total MFSK bandwidth is
We use an FHSS scheme
Wd = Mfd .
with
That is, there are
different channels, each of width
The total
Wd .
k = 2.
4 = 2k
FHSS bandwidth is
Each 2 bits of the PN sequence is used to select one
W
s
= 2kWd .
of the four channels. That channel is held for a duration of two signal elements, or
four bits 1Tc = 2T
s
= 4T2.
MFSK
00
11
01
10
00
PN sequence
symbol
0
1
1
1
0
0
1
1
1
1
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
Input binary data
Wd
Wd
Ws
Wd
Wd
T
Ts
Time
Tc
Figure 9.4
Slow Frequency Hop Spread Spectrum Using MFSK 1M = 4, k = 22
4Some authors use a somewhat different definition (e.g., [PICK82]) of multiple hops per bit for fast fre-
quency hop, multiple bits per hop for slow frequency hop, and one hop per bit if neither fast nor slow. The
more common definition, which we use, relates hops to signal elements rather than bits.
MFSK
00
11
01
10
00
10
00
11
10
00
10
11
11
01
00
01
10
11
01
10
PN sequence
symbol
0
1
1
1
0
0
1
1
1
1
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
Input binary data
Wd
Wd
Ws
Wd
Wd
T
Time
Tc
Ts
Figure 9.5
Fast Frequency Hop Spread Spectrum Using MFSK 1M = 4, k = 22
282
CHAPTER 9 / SPREAD SPECTRUM
Figure 9.5 shows an example of fast FHSS, using the same MFSK example.
Again,
M = 4
and
k = 2.
In this case, however, each signal element is represented
by two frequency tones. Again,
Wd = Mfd
and
W
s
= 2kWd .
In this example
T
s
= 2Tc
= 2T. In general, fast FHSS provides improved performance compared
to slow FHSS in the face of noise or jamming. For example, if three or more fre-
quencies (chips) are used for each signal element, the receiver can decide which
signal element was sent on the basis of a majority of the chips being correct.
FHSS Performance Considerations
Typically, a large number of frequencies is used in FHSS so that W is much larger than
s
. One benefit of this is that a large value of k results in a system that is quite resistant
Wd
to jamming. For example, suppose we have an MFSK transmitter with bandwidth
Wd
and a noise jammer of the same bandwidth and fixed power S on the signal carrier fre-
j
quency.Then we have a ratio of signal energy per bit to noise power density per Hertz of
Eb
EbWd
=
N
j
Sj
If frequency hopping is used, the jammer must jam all 2k frequencies. With a fixed
power, this reduces the jamming power in any one frequency band to
The gain
Sj/2k.
in signal-to-noise ratio, or processing gain, is
W
s
GP = 2k =
(9.3)
d
W
9.3
DIRECT SEQUENCE SPREAD SPECTRUM
With direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS), each bit in the original signal is rep-
resented by multiple bits in the transmitted signal, using a spreading code. The
spreading code spreads the signal across a wider frequency band in direct proportion
to the number of bits used. Therefore, a 10-bit spreading code spreads the signal
across a frequency band that is 10 times greater than a 1-bit spreading code.
One technique with direct sequence spread spectrum is to combine the digital
information stream with the spreading code bit stream using an exclusive-OR
(XOR). The XOR obeys the following rules:
0{0 = 0
0{1 = 1
1{0 = 1
1{1 = 0
Figure 9.6 shows an example. Note that an information bit of one inverts the spread-
ing code bits in the combination, while an information bit of zero causes the spread-
ing code bits to be transmitted without inversion. The combination bit stream has
the data rate of the original spreading code sequence, so it has a wider bandwidth
than the information stream. In this example, the spreading code bit stream is
clocked at four times the information rate.
DSSS Using BPSK
To see how this technique works out in practice, assume that a BPSK modulation
scheme is to be used. Rather than represent binary data with 1 and 0, it is more
9.3 / DIRECT SEQUENCE SPREAD SPECTRUM
283
Data input A
0
1
0
0
1
0
1
1
T
Locally generated
PN bit stream
0
1 1
0
1
0 0
1
0
1 1
0
1
0
1 1
0
1
0
1
0 0
1 1
0
1
0 0
1
0 0
1
Tc
Transmitted signal
0
1 1
0 0
1 1
0 0
1 1
0
1
0
1 1 1
0
1
0 0 0
1 1 1
0
1 1
0
1 1
0
C A B
Received signal C
0
1 1
0 0
1 1
0 0
1 1
0
1
0
1 1 1
0
1
0 0 0
1 1 1
0
1 1
0
1 1
0
Locally generated
PN bit stream
0
1 1
0
1
0 0
1
0
1 1
0
1
0
1 1
0
1
0
1
0 0
1 1
0
1
0 0
1
0 0
1
identical to B
above
Data output
0
1
0
0
1
0
1
1
A C B
Figure 9.6
Example of Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum
convenient for our purposes to use
and -1 to represent the two binary digits. In
+1
that case, a BPSK signal can be represented as was shown in Equation (5.6):
sd1t2 = Ad1t2 cos12pfct2
(9.4)
where
A = amplitude of signal
fc = carrier frequency
d1t2 = the discrete function that takes on the value of + 1 for one
bit time if the corresponding bit in the bit stream is 1 and
the value of
-1
for one bit time if the corresponding bit in
the bit stream is 0
To produce the DSSS signal, we multiply the preceding by c(t), which is the PN
sequence taking on values of
+1
and
- 1:
s1t2 = A d1t2c1t2 cos12pfct2
(9.5)
At the receiver, the incoming signal is multiplied again by c(t). But
c1t2 * c1t2 = 1 and therefore the original signal is recovered:
s1t2c1t2 = A d1t2c1t2c1t2 cos12pfct2 = sd1t2
Equation (9.5) can be interpreted in two ways, leading to two different
implementations.The first interpretation is to first multiply d(t) and c(t) together
and then perform the BPSK modulation. That is the interpretation we have been
discussing. Alternatively, we can first perform the BPSK modulation on the
data stream d(t) to generate the data signal
This signal can then be multi-
sd1t2.
plied by c(t).
284
CHAPTER 9 / SPREAD SPECTRUM
DS spreader
Spread spectrum
Binary data
sd(t)
signal
Modulator
d(t)
(BPSK)
s(t)
c(t)
Pseudonoise
bit source
(a) Transmitter
DS despreader
Spread spectrum
s(t)
sd(t)
Binary data
Demodulator
signal
(BPSK)
d(t)
c(t)
Pseudonoise
bit source
(b) Receiver
Figure 9.7
Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum System
An implementation using the second interpretation is shown in Figure 9.7.
Figure 9.8 is an example of this approach.
DSSS Performance Considerations
The spectrum spreading achieved by the direct sequence technique is easily deter-
mined (Figure 9.9). In our example, the information signal has a bit width of T,
which is equivalent to a data rate of 1/T. In that case, the spectrum of the signal,
depending on the encoding technique, is roughly 2/T. Similarly, the spectrum of the
PN signal is
Figure 9.9c shows the resulting spectrum spreading. The amount of
2/Tc.
spreading that is achieved is a direct result of the data rate of the PN stream.
As with FHSS, we can get some insight into the performance of DSSS by look-
ing at its effectiveness against jamming. Let us assume a simple jamming signal at
the center frequency of the DSSS system. The jamming signal has the form
sj1t2 =
22Sj cos12pfct2
and the received signal is
sr1t2 = s1t2 + sj1t2 + n1t2
9.3 / DIRECT SEQUENCE SPREAD SPECTRUM
285
1
1
1
1
(a) d(t)
Data
T
(b) sd(t)
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
(c) c(t)
Spreading code
Tc
(d) st(t)
Figure 9.8
Example of Direct-Sequence Spread Spectrum Using BPSK
where
s1t2 = transmitted signal
sj1t2 = jamming signal
n1t2 = additive white noise
Sj = jammer signal power
The despreader at the receiver multiplies
by c(t), so the signal component
sr1t2
due to the jamming signal is
yj1t2 =
22Sjc1t2cos12pfct2
This is simply a BPSK modulation of the carrier tone. Thus, the carrier power S is
j
spread over a bandwidth of approximately
However, the BPSK demodulator
2/Tc .
(Figure 9.7) following the DSSS despreader includes a bandpass filter matched to
the BPSK data, with bandwidth of 2/T. Thus, most of the jamming power is filtered.
286
CHAPTER 9 / SPREAD SPECTRUM
Signal energy
f
1
1
0
T
T
(a) Spectrum of data signal
f
1
1
0
Tc
Tc
(b) Spectrum of pseudonoise signal
f
1
1
1
1
0
T
Tc
T
Tc
(c) Spectrum of combined signal
Figure 9.9
Approximate Spectrum of Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum Signal
Although a number of factors come into play, as an approximation, we can say that
the jamming power passed by the filter is
SjF = Sj12/T2/12/Tc2 = Sj1Tc/T2
The jamming power has been reduced by a factor of
through the use of
1Tc/T2
spread spectrum. The inverse of this factor is the gain in signal-to-noise ratio:
T
Rc
W
s
GP =
(9.6)
Tc =
R L
Wd
where R is the spreading bit rate, R is the data rate,
is the signal bandwidth, and
Wd
c
W
is the spread spectrum signal bandwidth. The result is similar to the result for
s
FHSS (Equation 9.3).
9.4 / CODE DIVISION MULTIPLE ACCESS
287
9.4
CODE DIVISION MULTIPLE ACCESS
Basic Principles
CDMA is a multiplexing technique used with spread spectrum. The scheme works in
the following manner. We start with a data signal with rate D, which we call the bit data
rate. We break each bit into k chips according to a fixed pattern that is specific to each
user, called the user’s code.The new channel has a chip data rate of kD chips per second.
As an illustration we consider a simple example5 with
It is simplest to charac-
k = 6.
terize a code as a sequence of 1s and
Figure 9.10 shows the codes for three users,
- 1s.
A, B, and C, each of which is communicating with the same base station receiver,
R. Thus, the code for user A is
Similarly, user B has
cA = 6 1, - 1, - 1, 1, - 1, 1 7 .
code
and user C has
cC
c
= 61, 1, -1, 1, 1, -17.
B = 61, 1, -1, -1, 1, 17,
We now consider the case of user A communicating with the base station. The
base station is assumed to know A’s code. For simplicity, we assume that communi-
cation is already synchronized so that the base station knows when to look for
codes. If A wants to send a
1 bit, A transmits its code as a chip pattern
6 1, - 1, - 1, 1, - 1, 1 7 . If a 0 bit is to be sent, A transmits the complement (1s and
- 1s
reversed) of its code,
6-1, 1, 1, -1, 1, -17.
At the base station the receiver
decodes the chip patterns. In our simple version, if the receiver R receives a chip
pattern d = 6 d1, d2, d3, d4, d5, d6 7 , and the receiver is seeking to communicate
Code
Message "1101" encoded
1
1
0
1
1
1
11
1
1
User A
1 1
1
1 1 1
User B
1
1
11
1
1
User C
Figure 9.10
CDMA Example
5This example was provided by Professor Richard Van Slyke of the Polytechnic University of Brooklyn.
288
CHAPTER 9 / SPREAD SPECTRUM
with a user u so that it has at hand u’s code,
the receiver
6 c1, c2, c3, c4, c5, c6 7 ,
performs electronically the following decoding function:
Su1d2 = d1 * c1 + d2 * c2 + d3 * c3 + d4 * c4 + d5 * c5 + d6 * c6
The subscript u on S simply indicates that u is the user that we are interested
in. Let’s suppose the user u is actually A and see what happens. If A sends a 1 bit,
then d is
and the preceding computation using
becomes
SA
6 1, - 1, - 1, 1, - 1, 1 7
SA11, - 1, - 1, 1, - 1, 12 = 1 * 1 + 1 - 12 * 1 - 12 + 1 - 12 * 1 - 12 + 1 * 1
+ 1-12 * 1-12 + 1 * 1 = 6
If A sends a 0 bit that corresponds to
we get
d = 6-1, 1, 1, -1, 1, -17,
SA1 - 1, 1, 1, - 1, 1, - 12 = - 1 * 1 + 1 * 1 - 12 + 1 * 1 - 12 + 1 - 12 * 1
+ 1 * 1-12 + 1-12 * 1 = -6
Please note that it is always the case that
no matter what
-6 … SA1d2 … 6
sequence of
and 1s that d is, and that the only d’s resulting in the extreme values
- 1s
of 6 and
-6
are A’s code and its complement, respectively. So if
S
A
produces a
+ 6,
we say that we have received a 1 bit from A; if
S
A
produces a
- 6,
we say that we
have received a 0 bit from user A; otherwise, we assume that someone else is send-
ing information or there is an error. So why go through all this? The reason becomes
clear if we see what happens if user B is sending and we try to receive it with
SA ,
that is, we are decoding with the wrong code, A’s. If B sends a 1 bit, then
d = 61, 1, -1, -1, 1, 17.Then
SA11, 1, - 1, - 1, 1, 12 = 1 * 1 + 1 * 1 - 12 + 1 - 12 * 1 - 12 + 1 - 12 * 1
+ 1 * 1-12 + 1 * 1 = 0
Thus, the unwanted signal (from B) does not show up at all. You can easily
verify that if B had sent a 0 bit, the decoder would produce a value of 0 for
SA
again. This means that if the decoder is linear and if A and B transmit signals
sA
and
, respectively, at the same time, then
SA1sA + sB2 = SA1sA2 + SA1sB
s
2 =
B
2 since the decoder ignores B when it is using A’s code.The codes of A and B
SA1sA
that have the property that
SA1cB2 = SB1cA2 = 0
are called orthogonal.6 Such
codes are very nice to have but there are not all that many of them. More common
is the case when
S
X1cY2
is small in absolute value when
X Z Y.
Then it is easy to
distinguish between the two cases when
X = Y
and when
X Z Y.
In our example
S
A1cC2 = Sc1cA
2 = 0, but
SB1cC2 = SC1cB2 = 2.
In the latter case the C signal
would make a small contribution to the decoded signal instead of 0. Using the
decoder,
, the receiver can sort out transmission from u even when there may be
Su
other users broadcasting in the same cell.
Table 9.1 summarizes the example from the preceding discussion.
In practice, the CDMA receiver can filter out the contribution from unwanted
users or they appear as low-level noise. However, if there are many users competing
for the channel with the user the receiver is trying to listen to, or if the signal power
of one or more competing signals is too high, perhaps because it is very near the
receiver (the “near/far” problem), the system breaks down.
6See Appendix J for a discussion of orthogonality of chipping codes.
9.4 / CODE DIVISION MULTIPLE ACCESS
289
Table 9.1
CDMA Example
(a) User’s codes
User A
1
-1
-1
1
-1
1
User B
1
1
-1
-1
1
1
User C
1
1
-1
1
1
-1
(b) Transmission from A
Transmit
1data bit = 12
1
-1
-1
1
-1
1
Receiver codeword
1
-1
-1
1
-1
1
Multiplication
1
1
1
1
1
1
= 6
Transmit
1data bit = 02
-1
1
1
-1
1
-1
Receiver codeword
1
-1
-1
1
-1
1
Multiplication
-1
-1
-1
-1
-1
-1
= -6
(c) Transmission from B, receiver attempts to recover A’s transmission
Transmit
1data bit = 12
1
1
-1
-1
1
1
Receiver codeword
1
-1
-1
1
-1
1
Multiplication
1
-1
1
-1
-1
1
= 0
(d) Transmission from C, receiver attempts to recover B’s transmission
Transmit
1data bit = 12
1
1
-1
1
1
-1
Receiver codeword
1
1
-1
-1
1
1
Multiplication
1
1
1
-1
1
-1
= 2
(e) Transmission from B and C, receiver attempts to recover B’s transmission
B
1data bit = 12
1
1
-1
-1
1
1
C
1data bit = 12
1
1
-1
1
1
-1
Combined signal
2
2
-2
0
2
0
Receiver codeword
1
1
-1
-1
1
1
Multiplication
2
2
2
0
2
0
= 8
CDMA for Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum
Let us now look at CDMA from the viewpoint of a DSSS system using BPSK. Figure
9.11 depicts a configuration in which there are n users, each transmitting using a dif-
ferent, orthogonal, PN sequence (compare Figure 9.7). For each user, the data stream
to be transmitted,
is BPSK modulated to produce a signal with a bandwidth of
di1t2,
and then multiplied by the spreading code for that user,
All of the signals,
ci
W
1t2.
s
plus noise, are received at the receiver’s antenna. Suppose that the receiver is attempt-
ing to recover the data of user 1. The incoming signal is multiplied by the spreading
code of user 1 and then demodulated. The effect of this is to narrow the bandwidth of
that portion of the incoming signal corresponding to user 1 to the original bandwidth
of the unspread signal, which is proportional to the data rate. Incoming signals from
290
CHAPTER 9 / SPREAD SPECTRUM
d1(t)
s1(t)
Noise
cos(2Pfct)
c1(t)
d
2
(t)
s2(t)
d1(t)
cos(2Pf
ct)
c2(t)
c1(t)
cos(2Pfct)
dn(t)
sn(t)
cos(2Pf
ct)
cn(t)
Figure 9.11
CDMA in a DSSS Environment
other users are not despread by the spreading code from user 1 and hence retain their
bandwidth of
Thus the unwanted signal energy remains spread over a large band-
Ws .
width and the wanted signal is concentrated in a narrow bandwidth. The bandpass fil-
ter at the demodulator can therefore recover the desired signal.
9.5
RECOMMENDED READING AND WEB SITE
[DIXO94] provides comprehensive treatment of spread spectrum. [TANT98] contains
reprints of many important papers in the field, including [PICK82], which provides an excel-
lent introduction to spread spectrum.
DIXO94
Dixon, R. Spread Spectrum Systems with Commercial Applications. New York:
Wiley, 1994.
PICK82
Pickholtz, R.; Schilling, D.; and Milstein, L. “Theory of Spread Spectrum Com-
munications—A Tutorial.” IEEE Transactions on Communications, May 1982.
Reprinted in [TANT98].
TANT98
Tantaratana, S, and Ahmed, K., eds. Wireless Applications of Spread Spectrum
Systems: Selected Readings. Piscataway, NJ: IEEE Press, 1998.
Recommended Web site:
• Spread Spectrum Scene: Excellent source of information and links
9.6 / KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
291
9.6
KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
Key Terms
chip
fast FHSS
slow FHSS
chipping signal
frequency-hopping spread
spread spectrum
code division multiple access
spectrum (FHSS)
spreading code
(CDMA)
orthogonal
spreading sequence
direct sequence spread
pseudonoise (PN)
spectrum (DSSS)
Review Questions
9.1. What is the relationship between the bandwidth of a signal before and after it has
been encoded using spread spectrum?
9.2. List three benefits of spread spectrum.
9.3. What is frequency-hopping spread spectrum?
9.4. Explain the difference between slow FHSS and fast FHSS.
9.5. What is direct sequence spread spectrum?
9.6. What is the relationship between the bit rate of a signal before and after it has been
encoded using DSSS?
9.7. What is CDMA?
Problems
9.1
Assume we wish to transmit a 56-kbps data stream using spread spectrum.
a. Find the channel bandwidth required to achieve a 56-kbps channel capacity when
0.01, and 0.001.
SNR = 0.1,
b. In an ordinary (not spread spectrum) system, a reasonable goal for bandwidth
efficiency might be 1 bps/Hz. That is, to transmit a data stream of 56 kbps, a band-
width of 56 kHz is used. In this case, what is the minimum SNR that can be
endured for transmission without appreciable errors? Compare to the spread
spectrum case.
Hint: Review the discussion of channel capacity in Section 3.4.
9.2
An FHSS system employs a total bandwidth of
and an individual
W
s
= 400 MHz
channel bandwidth of 100 Hz. What is the minimum number of PN bits required for
each frequency hop?
9.3
An FHSS system using MFSK with
M = 4
employs 1000 different frequencies. What
is the processing gain?
9.4
The following table illustrates the operation of an FHSS system for one complete
period of the PN sequence.
Time
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
Input data
0
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
1
0
Frequency
f1
f3
f23
f22
f8
f10
PN sequence
001
110
011
292
CHAPTER 9 / SPREAD SPECTRUM
Time
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
Input data
0
1
1
1
1
0
1
0
Frequency
f1
f3
f2
f2
PN sequence
001
001
a. What is the period of the PN sequence, in terms of bits in the sequence?
b. The system makes use of a form of FSK. What form of FSK is it?
c. What is the number of bits per signal element?
d. What is the number of FSK frequencies?
e. What is the length of a PN sequence per hop?
f. Is this a slow or fast FH system?
g. What is the total number of possible carrier frequencies?
h. Show the variation of the base, or demodulated, frequency with time.
9.5
The following table illustrates the operation of a FHSS system using the same PN
sequence as Problem 9.4.
Time
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
Input data
0
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
1
0
Frequency
f1
f21
f11
f3
f3
f3
f22
f10
f0
f0
f2
f22
PN sequence
001
110
011
001
001
001
110
011
001
001
001
110
Time
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
Input data
0
1
1
1
1
0
1
0
Frequency
f9
f1
f3
f3
f22
f10
f2
f2
PN sequence
011
001
001
001
110
011
001
001
a. What is the period of the PN sequence?
b. The system makes use of a form of FSK. What form of FSK is it?
c. What is the number of bits per signal element?
d. What is the number of FSK frequencies?
e. What is the length of a PN sequence per hop?
f. Is this a slow or fast FH system?
g. What is the total number of possible carrier frequencies?
h. Show the variation of the base, or demodulated, frequency with time.
9.6
Consider an MFSK scheme with
and
f
M = 8 1L = 3 bits2.
c
= 250 kHz, fd = 25 kHz,
a. Make a frequency assignment for each of the eight possible 3-bit data combinations.
b. We wish to apply FHSS to this MFSK scheme with
that is, the system will
k = 2;
hop among four different carrier frequencies. Expand the results of part (a) to
show the
frequency assignments.
4 * 8 = 32
9.7
Figure 9.12, based on one in [BELL00], depicts a simplified scheme for CDMA
encoding and decoding. There are seven logical channels, all using DSSS with a
spreading code of 7 bits. Assume that all sources are synchronized. If all seven sources
transmit a data bit, in the form of a 7-bit sequence, the signals from all sources com-
bine at the receiver so that two positive or two negative values reinforce and a posi-
tive and negative value cancel. To decode a given channel, the receiver multiplies the
incoming composite signal by the spreading code for that channel, sums the result,
and assigns binary 1 for a positive value and binary 0 for a negative value.
9.6 / KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
293
Channel 0 code
Channel
Data
number
value
(0)
1
(1)
0
(2)
1
(3)
0
(4)
0
(5)
0
(6)
1
Composite signal
Individual channel
9
waveforms
Figure 9.12
Example Seven-Channel CDMA Encoding and Decoding
a. What are the spreading codes for the seven channels?
b. Determine the receiver output measurement for channel 1 and the bit value
assigned.
c. Repeat part (b) for channel 2.
9.8
By far, the most widely used technique for pseudorandom number generation is the
linear congruential method. The algorithm is parameterized with four numbers, as fol-
lows:
m the modulus m 7 0
a
the multiplier 0 … a 6 m
c
the increment
0 … c 6 m
X0
the starting value, or seed
0 … X0 6 m
The sequence of pseudorandom numbers
is obtained via the following iterative
5Xn6
equation:
Xn + 1 = 1aXn + c2mod m
If m, a, c, and
are integers, then this technique will produce a sequence of integers
X0
with each integer in the range
An essential characteristic of a pseudo-
0 … Xn 6 m.
random number generator is that the generated sequence should appear random.
Although the sequence is not random, because it is generated deterministically, there
is a variety of statistical tests that can be used to assess the degree to which a sequence
exhibits randomness. Another desirable characteristic is that the function should be a
full-period generating function. That is, the function should generate all the numbers
between 0 and m before repeating.
With the linear congruential algorithm, a choice of parameters that provides a full
period does not necessarily provide a good randomization. For example, consider the
two generators:
Xn + 1 = 16Xn2mod 13
Xn + 1 = 17Xn2mod 13
294
CHAPTER 9 / SPREAD SPECTRUM
Write out the two sequences to show that both are full period. Which one appears
more random to you?
9.9
We would like m to be very large so that there is the potential for producing a long
series of distinct random numbers. A common criterion is that m be nearly equal to
the maximum representable nonnegative integer for a given computer. Thus, a value
of m near to or equal to
is typically chosen. Many experts recommend a value of
231
You may wonder why one should not simply use
because this latter num-
231 - 1.
231,
ber can be represented with no additional bits, and the mod operation should be eas-
ier to perform. In general, the modulus
2k - 1
is preferable to
2k.
Why is this so?
9.10
In any use of pseudorandom numbers, whether for encryption, simulation, or statisti-
cal design, it is dangerous to trust blindly the random number generator that happens
to be available in your computer’s system library. [PARK88] found that many con-
temporary textbooks and programming packages make use of flawed algorithms for
pseudorandom number generation. This exercise will enable you to test your system.
The test is based on a theorem attributed to Ernesto Cesaro (see [KNUT98] for a
6
proof), which states that the probability is equal to
that the greatest common
p2
divisor of two randomly chosen integers is 1. Use this theorem in a program to deter-
mine statistically the value of
The main program should call three subprograms:
p.
the random number generator from the system library to generate the random inte-
gers; a subprogram to calculate the greatest common divisor of two integers using
Euclid’s algorithm; and a subprogram that calculates square roots. If these latter two
programs are not available, you will have to write them as well. The main program
should loop through a large number of random numbers to give an estimate of the
aforementioned probability. From this, it is a simple matter to solve for your estimate
of
p.
If the result is close to 3.14, congratulations! If not, then the result is probably low,
usually a value of around 2.7. Why would such an inferior result be obtained?
PART THREE
Wide Area Networks
art Two dealt with the transfer of data between devices that are directly
connected, generally by a point-to-point link. Often, however, this
P
arrangement is impractical, and a data communication network is
required to transmit data between devices, either because the devices are very
far apart or because there are many devices to be interconnected. In general
terms, communications networks can be categorized as wide area networks
(WANs) and local area networks (LANs). Part Three focuses on WANs, while
Part Four covers LANs.
Two perspectives on the material in this part are of particular significance as
they relate to the treatment of internetworking in Part Five. First, the
constituent networks of the Internet and other internetworks are LANs and
WANs. Thus, a full understanding of the technology and architecture of inter-
networks includes an understanding of the underlying networks. Second, and
perhaps more important, many of the technologies developed for switched data
WANs (including packet-switching, frame relay, and ATM networks) carry over
into the design of internetworks. This is especially true in the cases of routing
and congestion control.
ROAD MAP FOR PART THREE
Chapter 10 Circuit Switching and Packet Switching
Our treatment of the technology and architecture of circuit-switching net-
works begins with the internal operation of a single switch. This is in con-
trast to packet-switching networks, which are best explained by the
collective behavior of the set of switches that make up a network. Thus,
Chapter 10 begins by examining digital switching concepts, including
space and time division switching.
The remainder of Chapter 10 introduces packet-switching technol-
ogy. The chapter covers the basic principles of packet switching and ana-
lyzes datagram and virtual circuit approaches. The chapter also covers
frame relay networks.
295
Chapter 11 Asynchronous Transfer Mode
Chapter 11 focuses on the transmission technology that is the foundation
of broadband ISDN: asynchronous transfer mode (ATM). ATM is also
finding widespread application beyond its use as part of broadband ISDN.
ATM is in essence a packet-switching technology, but it is far more
streamlined and efficient than traditional packet switching and is designed
to support very high data rates. This chapter begins with a description of
the ATM protocol and format. Then the physical layer issues relating to
the transmission of ATM cells are discussed.
Chapter 12 Routing in Switched Networks
One significant technical issue associated with switched networks is rout-
ing. Because the source and destination nodes are not directly connected,
the network must route each packet, from node to node, through the net-
work. Chapter 12 discusses the common routing algorithms used both in
switched data networks, such as frame relay and ATM, and in the Internet.
Chapter 13 Congestion Control in Data Networks
A critical design issue for switched data networks and the Internet is con-
gestion control. Chapter 13 begins with an explanation of the nature of
congestion in switched networks and both the importance and difficulty of
controlling congestion. The chapter provides a general discussion of con-
gestion control in traditional packet-switching networks and also exam-
ines frame relay congestion control. The focus of the remainder of the
chapter is on congestion and traffic control for ATM networks. This is one
of the most complex aspects of ATM and is the subject of intensive ongo-
ing research. This chapter surveys those techniques that have been
accepted as having broad utility in ATM environments. All of the tech-
niques surveyed in this chapter also have relevance in the context of the
Internet.
Chapter 14: Cellular Wireless Networks
Chapter 14 begins with a discussion of the important design issues related
to cellular wireless networks. Next, the chapter covers the traditional
mobile telephony service, now known as first-generation analog. Chapter
14 then examines second-generation digital cellular networks. Finally, an
overview of third-generation networks is provided.
296
CHAPTER10
CIRCUIT SWITCHING AND
PACKET SWITCHING
10.1
Switched Communications Networks
10.2
Circuit-Switching Networks
10.3
Circuit-Switching Concepts
10.4
Softswitch Architecture
10.5
Packet-Switching Principles
10.6
X.25
10.7
Frame Relay
10.8
Recommended Reading and Web Sites
10.9
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
297
He got into a District Line train at Wimbledon Park, changed on to the Victoria Line at
Victoria and on to the Jubilee Line at Green Park for West Hampstead. It was a long
and awkward journey but he enjoyed it.
—King Solomon’s Carpet, Barbara Vine (Ruth Rendell)
KEY POINTS
•
Circuit switching is used in public telephone networks and is the basis
for private networks built on leased lines and using on-site circuit
switches. Circuit switching was developed to handle voice traffic but
can also handle digital data, although this latter use is often inefficient.
•
With circuit switching, a dedicated path is established between two
stations for communication. Switching and transmission resources
within the network are reserved for the exclusive use of the circuit for
the duration of the connection. The connection is transparent: Once it is
established, it appears to attached devices as if there were a direct con-
nection.
•
Packet switching was designed to provide a more efficient facility
than circuit switching for bursty data traffic. With packet switching, a
station transmits data in small blocks, called packets. Each packet con-
tains some portion of the user data plus control information needed
for proper functioning of the network.
•
A key distinguishing element of packet-switching networks is whether
the internal operation is datagram or virtual circuit. With internal vir-
tual circuits, a route is defined between two endpoints and all packets
for that virtual circuit follow the same route. With internal datagrams,
each packet is treated independently, and packets intended for the
same destination may follow different routes.
•
X.25 is the standard protocol for the interface between an end system
and a packet-switching network.
•
Frame relay is a form of packet switching that provides a streamlined
interface compared to X.25, with improved performance.
Part Two describes how information can be encoded and transmitted over a com-
munications link. We now turn to the broader discussion of networks, which can
be used to interconnect many devices. The chapter begins with a general discus-
sion of switched communications networks.The remainder of the chapter focuses
on wide area networks and, in particular, on traditional approaches to wide area
network design: circuit switching and packet switching.
298
10.1 / SWITCHED COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS
299
Since the invention of the telephone, circuit switching has been the dominant
technology for voice communications, and it has remained so well into the digital
era. This chapter looks at the key characteristics of a circuit-switching network.
Around 1970, research began on a new form of architecture for long-dis-
tance digital data communications: packet switching. Although the technology of
packet switching has evolved substantially since that time, it is remarkable that
(1) the basic technology of packet switching is fundamentally the same today as it
was in the early 1970s networks, and (2) packet switching remains one of the few
effective technologies for long-distance data communications.
This chapter provides an overview of packet-switching technology. We will
see, in this chapter and later in this part, that many of the advantages of packet
switching (flexibility, resource sharing, robustness, responsiveness) come with a
cost. The packet-switching network is a distributed collection of packet-switching
nodes. Ideally, all packet-switching nodes would always know the state of the
entire network. Unfortunately, because the nodes are distributed, there is a time
delay between a change in status in one portion of the network and knowledge of
that change elsewhere. Furthermore, there is overhead involved in communicat-
ing status information.As a result, a packet-switching network can never perform
“perfectly,” and elaborate algorithms are used to cope with the time delay and
overhead penalties of network operation. These same issues will appear again
when we discuss internetworking in Part Five.
Finally, this chapter provides an overview of a popular form of packet
switching known as frame relay.
10.1 SWITCHED COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS
For transmission of data1 beyond a local area, communication is typically achieved
by transmitting data from source to destination through a network of intermediate
switching nodes; this switched network design is typically used to implement LANs
as well. The switching nodes are not concerned with the content of the data; rather,
their purpose is to provide a switching facility that will move the data from node to
node until they reach their destination. Figure 10.1 illustrates a simple network. The
devices attached to the network may be referred to as stations. The stations may
be computers, terminals, telephones, or other communicating devices. We refer to
the switching devices whose purpose is to provide communication as nodes. Nodes
are connected to one another in some topology by transmission links. Each station
attaches to a node, and the collection of nodes is referred to as a communications
network.
In a switched communication network, data entering the network from a
station are routed to the destination by being switched from node to node. For
1We use this term here in a very general sense, to include voice, image, and video, as well as ordinary data
(e.g., numerical, text).
300
CHAPTER 10 / CIRCUIT SWITCHING AND PACKET SWITCHING
Mainframe
Server
C
Personal
computer
2
1
3
B
D
Personal
computer
5
Personal
computer
E
Switching
node
4
6
A
7
Personal
computer
F
Figure 10.1
Simple Switching Network
example, in Figure 10.1, data from station A intended for station F are sent to
node 4. They may then be routed via nodes 5 and 6 or nodes 7 and 6 to the desti-
nation. Several observations are in order:
1. Some nodes connect only to other nodes (e.g., 5 and 7). Their sole task is the
internal (to the network) switching of data. Other nodes have one or more sta-
tions attached as well; in addition to their switching functions, such nodes
accept data from and deliver data to the attached stations.
2. Node-station links are generally dedicated point-to-point links. Node-node links
are usually multiplexed, using either frequency division multiplexing (FDM) or
time division multiplexing (TDM).
3. Usually, the network is not fully connected; that is, there is not a direct link
between every possible pair of nodes. However, it is always desirable to have
more than one possible path through the network for each pair of stations.
This enhances the reliability of the network.
Two different technologies are used in wide area switched networks: circuit
switching and packet switching. These two technologies differ in the way the
nodes switch information from one link to another on the way from source to
destination.
10.2 / CIRCUIT-SWITCHING NETWORKS
301
10.2
CIRCUIT-SWITCHING NETWORKS
Communication via circuit switching implies that there is a dedicated communica-
tion path between two stations. That path is a connected sequence of links between
network nodes. On each physical link, a logical channel is dedicated to the connec-
tion. Communication via circuit switching involves three phases, which can be
explained with reference to Figure 10.1.
1.
Circuit establishment. Before any signals can be transmitted, an end-to-end
(station-to-station) circuit must be established. For example, station A sends a
request to node 4 requesting a connection to station E. Typically, the link from A
to 4 is a dedicated line, so that part of the connection already exists. Node 4 must
find the next leg in a route leading to E. Based on routing information and mea-
sures of availability and perhaps cost, node 4 selects the link to node 5, allocates a
free channel (using FDM or TDM) on that link, and sends a message requesting
connection to E. So far, a dedicated path has been established from A through
4 to 5. Because a number of stations may attach to 4, it must be able to establish
internal paths from multiple stations to multiple nodes. How this is done is dis-
cussed later in this section. The remainder of the process proceeds similarly. Node
5 allocates a channel to node 6 and internally ties that channel to the channel from
node 4. Node 6 completes the connection to E. In completing the connection, a
test is made to determine if E is busy or is prepared to accept the connection.
2.
Data transfer. Data can now be transmitted from A through the network to E.
The transmission may be analog or digital, depending on the nature of the net-
work. As the carriers evolve to fully integrated digital networks, the use of digital
(binary) transmission for both voice and data is becoming the dominant method.
The path is A-4 link, internal switching through 4, 4-5 channel, internal switching
through 5, 5-6 channel, internal switching through 6, 6-E link. Generally, the con-
nection is full duplex.
3.
Circuit disconnect. After some period of data transfer, the connection is ter-
minated, usually by the action of one of the two stations. Signals must be prop-
agated to nodes 4, 5, and 6 to deallocate the dedicated resources.
Note that the connection path is established before data transmission begins.
Thus, channel capacity must be reserved between each pair of nodes in the path, and
each node must have available internal switching capacity to handle the requested
connection. The switches must have the intelligence to make these allocations and
to devise a route through the network.
Circuit switching can be rather inefficient. Channel capacity is dedicated for
the duration of a connection, even if no data are being transferred. For a voice con-
nection, utilization may be rather high, but it still does not approach 100%. For a
client/server or terminal-to-computer connection, the capacity may be idle during
most of the time of the connection. In terms of performance, there is a delay prior to
signal transfer for call establishment. However, once the circuit is established, the
network is effectively transparent to the users. Information is transmitted at a fixed
data rate with no delay other than the propagation delay through the transmission
links. The delay at each node is negligible.
302
CHAPTER 10 / CIRCUIT SWITCHING AND PACKET SWITCHING
Long-distance
Long-distance
office
office
End office
End office
Subscriber loop
Connecting trunk
Intercity trunk
Connecting trunk
Digital PBX
Figure 10.2
Example Connection Over a Public Circuit-Switching Network
Circuit switching was developed to handle voice traffic but is now also used for
data traffic. The best-known example of a circuit-switching network is the public
telephone network (Figure 10.2). This is actually a collection of national networks
interconnected to form the international service. Although originally designed and
implemented to service analog telephone subscribers, it handles substantial data
traffic via modem and is gradually being converted to a digital network. Another
well-known application of circuit switching is the private branch exchange (PBX),
used to interconnect telephones within a building or office. Circuit switching is also
used in private networks. Typically, such a network is set up by a corporation or
other large organization to interconnect its various sites. Such a network usually
consists of PBX systems at each site interconnected by dedicated, leased lines
obtained from one of the carriers, such as AT&T. A final common example of the
application of circuit switching is the data switch. The data switch is similar to the
PBX but is designed to interconnect digital data processing devices, such as termi-
nals and computers.
A public telecommunications network can be described using four generic
architectural components:
• Subscribers: The devices that attach to the network. It is still the case that
most subscriber devices to public telecommunications networks are tele-
phones, but the percentage of data traffic increases year by year.
• Subscriber line: The link between the subscriber and the network, also
referred to as the subscriber loop or local loop. Almost all local loop connec-
tions use twisted-pair wire. The length of a local loop is typically in a range
from a few kilometers to a few tens of kilometers.
• Exchanges: The switching centers in the network. A switching center that
directly supports subscribers is known as an end office. Typically, an end office
will support many thousands of subscribers in a localized area. There are over
19,000 end offices in the United States, so it is clearly impractical for each end
10.2 / CIRCUIT-SWITCHING NETWORKS
303
office to have a direct link to each of the other end offices; this would require
on the order of
links. Rather, intermediate switching nodes are used.
2 * 108
• Trunks: The branches between exchanges. Trunks carry multiple voice-
frequency circuits using either FDM or synchronous TDM. We referred to
these as carrier systems in Chapter 8.
Subscribers connect directly to an end office, which switches traffic between
subscribers and between a subscriber and other exchanges. The other exchanges
are responsible for routing and switching traffic between end offices. This distinc-
tion is shown in Figure 10.3. To connect two subscribers attached to the same end
office, a circuit is set up between them in the same fashion as described before. If
two subscribers connect to different end offices, a circuit between them consists of
a chain of circuits through one or more intermediate offices. In the figure, a con-
nection is established between lines a and b by simply setting up the connection
through the end office.The connection between c and d is more complex. In c’s end
office, a connection is established between line c and one channel on a TDM trunk
to the intermediate switch. In the intermediate switch, that channel is connected to
a channel on a TDM trunk to d’s end office. In that end office, the channel is con-
nected to line d.
Circuit-switching technology has been driven by those applications that han-
dle voice traffic. One of the key requirements for voice traffic is that there must be
virtually no transmission delay and certainly no variation in delay. A constant signal
transmission rate must be maintained, because transmission and reception occur at
the same signal rate. These requirements are necessary to allow normal human con-
versation. Further, the quality of the received signal must be sufficiently high to pro-
vide, at a minimum, intelligibility.
Circuit switching achieved its widespread, dominant position because it is well
suited to the analog transmission of voice signals. In today’s digital world, its ineffi-
ciencies are more apparent. However, despite the inefficiency, circuit switching will
a
b
End
office
c
Trunk
Intermediate
exchange
Trunk
End
office
d
Figure 10.3
Circuit Establishment
304
CHAPTER 10 / CIRCUIT SWITCHING AND PACKET SWITCHING
remain an attractive choice for both local area and wide area networking. One of its
key strengths is that it is transparent. Once a circuit is established, it appears as a
direct connection to the two attached stations; no special networking logic is needed
at the station.
10.3 CIRCUIT-SWITCHING CONCEPTS
The technology of circuit switching is best approached by examining the operation
of a single circuit-switching node. A network built around a single circuit-switching
node consists of a collection of stations attached to a central switching unit. The cen-
tral switch establishes a dedicated path between any two devices that wish to com-
municate. Figure 10.4 depicts the major elements of such a one-node network. The
dotted lines inside the switch symbolize the connections that are currently active.
The heart of a modern system is a digital switch. The function of the digital
switch is to provide a transparent signal path between any pair of attached devices.
The path is transparent in that it appears to the attached pair of devices that there is
Control unit
Digital switch
Network
interface
Figure 10.4
Elements of a Circuit-Switch Node
10.3 / CIRCUIT-SWITCHING CONCEPTS
305
a direct connection between them. Typically, the connection must allow full-duplex
transmission.
The network interface element represents the functions and hardware needed
to connect digital devices, such as data processing devices and digital telephones, to
the network. Analog telephones can also be attached if the network interface con-
tains the logic for converting to digital signals. Trunks to other digital switches carry
TDM signals and provide the links for constructing multiple-node networks.
The control unit performs three general tasks. First, it establishes connections.
This is generally done on demand, that is, at the request of an attached device.To estab-
lish the connection, the control unit must handle and acknowledge the request, deter-
mine if the intended destination is free, and construct a path through the switch.
Second, the control unit must maintain the connection. Because the digital switch uses
time division principles, this may require ongoing manipulation of the switching ele-
ments. However, the bits of the communication are transferred transparently (from the
point of view of the attached devices). Third, the control unit must tear down the con-
nection, either in response to a request from one of the parties or for its own reasons.
An important characteristic of a circuit-switching device is whether it is block-
ing or nonblocking. Blocking occurs when the network is unable to connect two sta-
tions because all possible paths between them are already in use. A blocking
network is one in which such blocking is possible. Hence a nonblocking network
permits all stations to be connected (in pairs) at once and grants all possible con-
nection requests as long as the called party is free. When a network is supporting
only voice traffic, a blocking configuration is generally acceptable, because it is
expected that most phone calls are of short duration and that therefore only a frac-
tion of the telephones will be engaged at any time. However, when data processing
devices are involved, these assumptions may be invalid. For example, for a data
entry application, a terminal may be continuously connected to a computer for
hours at a time. Hence, for data applications, there is a requirement for a nonblock-
ing or “nearly nonblocking” (very low probability of blocking) configuration.
We turn now to an examination of the switching techniques internal to a single
circuit-switching node.
Space Division Switching
Space division switching was originally developed for the analog environment and
has been carried over into the digital realm. The fundamental principles are the same,
whether the switch is used to carry analog or digital signals. As its name implies, a
space division switch is one in which the signal paths are physically separate from one
another (divided in space). Each connection requires the establishment of a physical
path through the switch that is dedicated solely to the transfer of signals between the
two endpoints. The basic building block of the switch is a metallic crosspoint or semi-
conductor gate that can be enabled and disabled by a control unit.
Figure 10.5 shows a simple crossbar matrix with 10 full-duplex I/O lines. The
matrix has 10 inputs and 10 outputs; each station attaches to the matrix via one input
and one output line. Interconnection is possible between any two lines by enabling
the appropriate crosspoint. Note that a total of 100 crosspoints is required. The
crossbar switch has a number of limitations:
306
CHAPTER 10 / CIRCUIT SWITCHING AND PACKET SWITCHING
Output lines
Figure 10.5
Space Division Switch
• The number of crosspoints grows with the square of the number of attached
stations. This is costly for a large switch.
• The loss of a crosspoint prevents connection between the two devices whose
lines intersect at that crosspoint.
• The crosspoints are inefficiently utilized; even when all of the attached devices
are active, only a small fraction of the crosspoints are engaged.
To overcome these limitations, multiple-stage switches are employed. Figure
10.6 is an example of a three-stage switch. This type of arrangement has two advan-
tages over a single-stage crossbar matrix:
• The number of crosspoints is reduced, increasing crossbar utilization. In this
example, the total number of crosspoints for 10 stations is reduced from 100 to 48.
• There is more than one path through the network to connect two endpoints,
increasing reliability.
Of course, a multistage network requires a more complex control scheme. To
establish a path in a single-stage network, it is only necessary to enable a single gate.
In a multistage network, a free path through the stages must be determined and the
appropriate gates enabled.
A consideration with a multistage space division switch is that it may be blocking.
It should be clear from Figure 10.5 that a single-stage crossbar matrix is nonblocking;
that is, a path is always available to connect an input to an output. That this may not be
the case with a multiple-stage switch can be seen in Figure 10.6. The heavier lines indi-
cate the lines that are already in use. In this state, input line 10, for example, cannot be
connected to output line 3, 4, or 5, even though all of these output lines are available. A
10.4 / SOFTSWITCH ARCHITECTURE
307
FIRST STAGE
SECOND STAGE
THIRD STAGE
5
2
2
5
1
1
switch
switch
2
2
3
2
2 switch
3
4
4
5
5
2
2 switch
6
5
2
2
5
6
switch
switch
7
7
8
8
9
9
10
10
Figure 10.6
Three-Stage Space Division Switch
multiple-stage switch can be made nonblocking by increasing the number or size of the
intermediate switches, but of course this increases the cost.
Time Division Switching
The technology of switching has a long history, most of it covering an era when ana-
log signal switching predominated. With the advent of digitized voice and synchro-
nous time division multiplexing techniques, both voice and data can be transmitted
via digital signals. This has led to a fundamental change in the design and technology
of switching systems. Instead of relatively dumb space division systems, modern dig-
ital systems rely on intelligent control of space and time division elements.
Virtually all modern circuit switches use digital time division techniques for
establishing and maintaining “circuits.” Time division switching involves the parti-
tioning of a lower-speed bit stream into pieces that share a higher-speed stream with
other bit streams. The individual pieces, or slots, are manipulated by control logic to
route data from input to output. There are a number of variations on this basic con-
cept, which are beyond the scope of this book
10.4
SOFTSWITCH ARCHITECTURE
The latest trend in the development of circuit-switching technology is generally referred
to as the softswitch. In essence, a softswitch is a general-purpose computer running spe-
cialized software that turns it into a smart phone switch. Softswitches cost significantly
less than traditional circuit switches and can provide more functionality. In particular, in
308
CHAPTER 10 / CIRCUIT SWITCHING AND PACKET SWITCHING
addition to handling the traditional circuit-switching functions, a softswitch can convert
a stream of digitized voice bits into packets.This opens up a number of options for trans-
mission, including the increasingly popular voice over IP (Internet Protocol) approach.
In any telephone network switch, the most complex element is the software
that controls call processing. This software performs call routing and implements
call-processing logic for hundreds of custom calling features. Typically, this software
runs on a proprietary processor that is integrated with the physical circuit-switching
hardware. A more flexible approach is to physically separate the call processing
function from the hardware switching function. In softswitch terminology, the phys-
ical switching function is performed by a media gateway (MG) and the call process-
ing logic resides in a media gateway controller (MGC).
Figure 10.7 contrasts the architecture of a traditional telephone network circuit
switch with the softswitch architecture. In the latter case, the MG and MGC are dis-
tinct entities and may be provided by different vendors. To facilitate interoperability,
two Internet standards have been issued for a media gateway control protocol
between the MG and MGC: RFC 2805 (Media Gateway Control Protocol Architecture
SWITCH
Call
SS7
processing
Network
Request to generate progress
Supervisory events
tones (e.g., ringback, engaged).
(e.g., off-hook, on-hook)
Instructions to establish switch
fabric connections.
Circuit-
switching
Circuit-switched
fabric
trunks
(a) Traditional circuit switching
Media
SS7
gateway
Network
controller
Request to generate progress
Supervisory events
tones (e.g., ringback, engaged).
(e.g., off-hook, on-hook)
Instructions to establish switch
fabric connections.
Circuit-or packet-
Media
Circuit-or packet-
switched
gateway
switched
access
trunks
(b) Softswitch architecture
Figure 10.7
Comparison between Traditional Circuit Switching and Softswitch
10.5 / PACKET-SWITCHING PRINCIPLES
309
and Requirements) and RFC 3525 (Gateway Control Protocol Version 1). Softswitch
functionality is also defined in the H series or ITU-T Recommendations, which covers
audiovisual and multimedia systems.
10.5
PACKET-SWITCHING PRINCIPLES
The long-haul circuit-switching telecommunications network was originally designed
to handle voice traffic, and the majority of traffic on these networks continues to be
voice. A key characteristic of circuit-switching networks is that resources within the
network are dedicated to a particular call. For voice connections, the resulting circuit
will enjoy a high percentage of utilization because, most of the time, one party or the
other is talking. However, as the circuit-switching network began to be used increas-
ingly for data connections, two shortcomings became apparent:
• In a typical user/host data connection (e.g., personal computer user logged on
to a database server), much of the time the line is idle. Thus, with data connec-
tions, a circuit-switching approach is inefficient.
• In a circuit-switching network, the connection provides for transmission at a
constant data rate. Thus, each of the two devices that are connected must
transmit and receive at the same data rate as the other. This limits the utility of
the network in interconnecting a variety of host computers and workstations.
To understand how packet switching addresses these problems, let us briefly
summarize packet-switching operation. Data are transmitted in short packets. A typ-
ical upper bound on packet length is 1000 octets (bytes). If a source has a longer mes-
sage to send, the message is broken up into a series of packets (Figure 10.8). Each
packet contains a portion (or all for a short message) of the user’s data plus some
control information. The control information, at a minimum, includes the informa-
tion that the network requires to be able to route the packet through the network
and deliver it to the intended destination. At each node en route, the packet is
received, stored briefly, and passed on to the next node.
Let us return to Figure 10.1, but now assume that it depicts a simple packet-
switching network. Consider a packet to be sent from station A to station E.The packet
includes control information that indicates that the intended destination is E. The
Application data
Packet-switching
network
Control information
(packet header)
Packet
Figure 10.8
The Use of Packets
310
CHAPTER 10 / CIRCUIT SWITCHING AND PACKET SWITCHING
packet is sent from A to node 4. Node 4 stores the packet, determines the next leg of
the route (say 5), and queues the packet to go out on that link (the 4-5 link). When the
link is available, the packet is transmitted to node 5, which forwards the packet to node
6, and finally to E. This approach has a number of advantages over circuit switching:
• Line efficiency is greater, because a single node-to-node link can be dynami-
cally shared by many packets over time. The packets are queued up and trans-
mitted as rapidly as possible over the link. By contrast, with circuit switching,
time on a node-to-node link is preallocated using synchronous time division
multiplexing. Much of the time, such a link may be idle because a portion of its
time is dedicated to a connection that is idle.
• A packet-switching network can perform data-rate conversion. Two stations of
different data rates can exchange packets because each connects to its node at
its proper data rate.
• When traffic becomes heavy on a circuit-switching network, some calls are
blocked; that is, the network refuses to accept additional connection requests
until the load on the network decreases. On a packet-switching network, pack-
ets are still accepted, but delivery delay increases.
• Priorities can be used. If a node has a number of packets queued for transmis-
sion, it can transmit the higher-priority packets first. These packets will there-
fore experience less delay than lower-priority packets.
Switching Technique
If a station has a message to send through a packet-switching network that is of
length greater than the maximum packet size, it breaks the message up into packets
and sends these packets, one at a time, to the network. A question arises as to how
the network will handle this stream of packets as it attempts to route them through
the network and deliver them to the intended destination. Two approaches are used
in contemporary networks: datagram and virtual circuit.
In the datagram approach, each packet is treated independently, with no reference
to packets that have gone before.This approach is illustrated in Figure 10.9, which shows
a time sequence of snapshots of the progress of three packets through the network.
Each node chooses the next node on a packet’s path, taking into account information
received from neighboring nodes on traffic, line failures, and so on. So the packets, each
with the same destination address, do not all follow the same route, and they may arrive
out of sequence at the exit point. In this example, the exit node restores the packets to
their original order before delivering them to the destination. In some datagram net-
works, it is up to the destination rather than the exit node to do the reordering.Also, it is
possible for a packet to be destroyed in the network. For example, if a packet-switching
node crashes momentarily, all of its queued packets may be lost. Again, it is up to either
the exit node or the destination to detect the loss of a packet and decide how to recover
it. In this technique, each packet, treated independently, is referred to as a datagram.
In the virtual circuit approach, a preplanned route is established before any
packets are sent. Once the route is established, all the packets between a pair of com-
municating parties follow this same route through the network. This is illustrated in
Figure 10.10. Because the route is fixed for the duration of the logical connection, it is
somewhat similar to a circuit in a circuit-switching network and is referred to as a
10.5 / PACKET-SWITCHING PRINCIPLES
311
(a)
(b)
3
(c)
(d)
(e)
Figure 10.9
Packet Switching: Datagram Approach
311
312
CHAPTER 10 / CIRCUIT SWITCHING AND PACKET SWITCHING
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
Figure 10.10
Packet Switching: Virtual-Circuit Approach
10.5 / PACKET-SWITCHING PRINCIPLES
313
virtual circuit. Each packet contains a virtual circuit identifier as well as data. Each
node on the preestablished route knows where to direct such packets; no routing
decisions are required. At any time, each station can have more than one virtual cir-
cuit to any other station and can have virtual circuits to more than one station.
So the main characteristic of the virtual circuit technique is that a route
between stations is set up prior to data transfer. Note that this does not mean that
this is a dedicated path, as in circuit switching. A transmitted packet is buffered at
each node, and queued for output over a line, while other packets on other virtual
circuits may share the use of the line. The difference from the datagram approach is
that, with virtual circuits, the node need not make a routing decision for each
packet. It is made only once for all packets using that virtual circuit.
If two stations wish to exchange data over an extended period of time, there
are certain advantages to virtual circuits. First, the network may provide services
related to the virtual circuit, including sequencing and error control. Sequencing
refers to the fact that, because all packets follow the same route, they arrive in the
original order. Error control is a service that assures not only that packets arrive in
proper sequence, but also that all packets arrive correctly. For example, if a packet in
a sequence from node 4 to node 6 fails to arrive at node 6, or arrives with an error,
node 6 can request a retransmission of that packet from node 4. Another advantage
is that packets should transit the network more rapidly with a virtual circuit; it is not
necessary to make a routing decision for each packet at each node.
One advantage of the datagram approach is that the call setup phase is
avoided. Thus, if a station wishes to send only one or a few packets, datagram deliv-
ery will be quicker. Another advantage of the datagram service is that, because it is
more primitive, it is more flexible. For example, if congestion develops in one part of
the network, incoming datagrams can be routed away from the congestion. With the
use of virtual circuits, packets follow a predefined route, and thus it is more difficult
for the network to adapt to congestion. A third advantage is that datagram delivery
is inherently more reliable. With the use of virtual circuits, if a node fails, all virtual
circuits that pass through that node are lost. With datagram delivery, if a node fails,
subsequent packets may find an alternate route that bypasses that node. A data-
gram-style of operation is common in internetworks, discussed in Part Five.
Packet Size
There is a significant relationship between packet size and transmission time, as
shown in Figure 10.11. In this example, it is assumed that there is a virtual circuit from
station X through nodes a and b to station Y. The message to be sent comprises
40 octets, and each packet contains 3 octets of control information, which is placed at
the beginning of each packet and is referred to as a header. If the entire message is
sent as a single packet of 43 octets (3 octets of header plus 40 octets of data), then the
packet is first transmitted from station X to node a (Figure 10.11a). When the entire
packet is received, it can then be transmitted from a to b. When the entire packet is
received at node b, it is then transferred to station Y. Ignoring switching time, total
transmission time is 129 octet-times (
transmissions).
43 octets * 3 packet
Suppose now that we break the message up into two packets, each containing
20 octets of the message and, of course, 3 octets each of header, or control information.
314
CHAPTER 10 / CIRCUIT SWITCHING AND PACKET SWITCHING
1
1
Header
Data
2
1
1
2
1
3
2
1
Data
4
3
2
3
2
1
5
4
3
Data
Data
2
1
4
3
2
6
5
4
7
6
5
5
4
3
8
7
6
Data
Data
2
1
5
4
9
8
7
Data
10
9
8
5
10
9
Data
X
a
b
Y
2
10
X
a
b Y
X a b Y
Data
X a b Y
(a) 1-packet message
(b) 2-packet message
(c) 5-packet message
(d) 10-packet message
Figure 10.11
Effect of Packet Size on Transmission Time
In this case, node a can begin transmitting the first packet as soon as it has
arrived from X, without waiting for the second packet. Because of this overlap
in transmission, the total transmission time drops to 92 octet-times. By break-
ing the message up into five packets, each intermediate node can begin trans-
mission even sooner and the savings in time is greater, with a total of
77 octet-times for transmission. However, this process of using more and
smaller packets eventually results in increased, rather than reduced, delay as
illustrated in Figure 10.11d. This is because each packet contains a fixed
amount of header, and more packets mean more of these headers. Further-
more, the example does not show the processing and queuing delays at each
10.5 / PACKET-SWITCHING PRINCIPLES
315
node. These delays are also greater when more packets are handled for a single mes-
sage. However, we shall see in the next chapter that an extremely small packet size (53
octets) can result in an efficient network design.
Comparison of Circuit Switching and Packet Switching
Having looked at the internal operation of packet switching, we can now return to a
comparison of this technique with circuit switching. We first look at the important
issue of performance and then examine other characteristics.
Performance A simple comparison of circuit switching and the two forms of
packet switching is provided in Figure 10.12. The figure depicts the transmission of a
message across four nodes, from a source station attached to node 1 to a destination
station attached to node 4. In this figure, we are concerned with three types of delay:
• Propagation delay: The time it takes a signal to propagate from one node to
the next. This time is generally negligible. The speed of electromagnetic signals
through a wire medium, for example, is typically
2 * 108 m/s.
• Transmission time: The time it takes for a transmitter to send out a block of data.
For example, it takes 1 s to transmit a 10,000-bit block of data onto a 10-kbps line.
• Node delay: The time it takes for a node to perform the necessary processing
as it switches data.
Call
Propagation
Processing
Call
request
delay
delay
request
signal
packet
Call
Call
Pkt1
accept
accept
Pkt2
signal
packet
Pkt1
Pkt3
Pkt2
Pkt1
Pkt3
Pkt2
User
Pkt1
data
Pkt3
Pkt2
Acknowledge-
Pkt1
ment signal
Pkt3
Pkt2
Pkt1
Pkt3
Pkt2
Acknowledge-
Pkt3
ment packet
link
link
link
Nodes:
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4
(a) Circuit switching
(b) Virtual circuit packet switching
(c) Datagram packet switching
Figure 10.12
Event Timing for Circuit Switching and Packet Switching
316
CHAPTER 10 / CIRCUIT SWITCHING AND PACKET SWITCHING
For circuit switching, there is a certain amount of delay before the message can
be sent. First, a Call Request signal is sent through the network, to set up a connec-
tion to the destination. If the destination station is not busy, a Call Accepted signal
returns. Note that a processing delay is incurred at each node during the call
request; this time is spent at each node setting up the route of the connection. On
the return, this processing is not needed because the connection is already set up.
After the connection is set up, the message is sent as a single block, with no notice-
able delay at the switching nodes.
Virtual circuit packet switching appears quite similar to circuit switching. A
virtual circuit is requested using a Call Request packet, which incurs a delay at each
node. The virtual circuit is accepted with a Call Accept packet. In contrast to the
circuit-switching case, the call acceptance also experiences node delays, even
though the virtual circuit route is now established.The reason is that this packet is
queued at each node and must wait its turn for transmission. Once the virtual cir-
cuit is established, the message is transmitted in packets. It should be clear that this
phase of the operation can be no faster than circuit switching, for comparable net-
works. This is because circuit switching is an essentially transparent process, pro-
viding a constant data rate across the network. Packet switching involves some
delay at each node in the path. Worse, this delay is variable and will increase with
increased load.
Datagram packet switching does not require a call setup. Thus, for short mes-
sages, it will be faster than virtual circuit packet switching and perhaps circuit
switching. However, because each individual datagram is routed independently, the
processing for each datagram at each node may be longer than for virtual circuit
packets. Thus, for long messages, the virtual circuit technique may be superior.
Figure 10.12 is intended only to suggest what the relative performance of the
techniques might be; actual performance depends on a host of factors, including the
size of the network, its topology, the pattern of load, and the characteristics of typi-
cal exchanges.
Other Characteristics Besides performance, there are a number of other
characteristics that may be considered in comparing the techniques we have
been discussing. Table 10.1 summarizes the most important of these. Most of
these characteristics have already been discussed. A few additional comments
follow.
As was mentioned, circuit switching is essentially a transparent service.
Once a connection is established, a constant data rate is provided to the con-
nected stations. This is not the case with packet switching, which typically intro-
duces variable delay, so that data arrive in a choppy manner. Indeed, with
datagram packet switching, data may arrive in a different order than they were
transmitted.
An additional consequence of transparency is that there is no over-
head required to accommodate circuit switching. Once a connection is established,
the analog or digital data are passed through, as is, from source to destination.
For packet switching, analog data must be converted to digital before transmis-
sion; in addition, each packet includes overhead bits, such as the destination
address.
10.6 / X.25
317
Table 10.1
Comparison of Communication Switching Techniques
Circuit Switching
Datagram Packet Switching
Virtual Circuit Packet
Switching
Dedicated transmission path
No dedicated path
No dedicated path
Continuous transmission of
Transmission of packets
Transmission of packets
data
Fast enough for interactive
Fast enough for interactive
Fast enough for interactive
Messages are not stored
Packets may be stored until
Packets stored until delivered
delivered
The path is established for
Route established for each
Route established for entire
entire conversation
packet
conversation
Call setup delay; negligible
Packet transmission delay
Call setup delay; packet
transmission delay
transmission delay
Busy signal if called party
Sender may be notified if
Sender notified of connection
busy
packet not delivered
denial
Overload may block call
Overload increases packet
Overload may block call
setup; no delay for established
delay
setup; increases packet delay
calls
Electromechanical or
Small switching nodes
Small switching nodes
computerized switching nodes
User responsible for message
Network may be responsible
Network may be responsible
loss protection
for individual packets
for packet sequences
Usually no speed or code
Speed and code conversion
Speed and code conversion
conversion
Fixed bandwidth
Dynamic use of bandwidth
Dynamic use of bandwidth
No overhead bits after call
Overhead bits in each packet
Overhead bits in each packet
setup
10.6 X.25
One technical aspect of packet-switching networks remains to be examined: the inter-
face between attached devices and the network. We have seen that a circuit-switching
network provides a transparent communications path for attached devices that makes
it appear that the two communicating stations have a direct link. However, in the case
of packet-switching networks, the attached stations must organize their data into
packets for transmission. This requires a certain level of cooperation between the net-
work and the attached stations. This cooperation is embodied in an interface standard.
The standard used for traditional packet-switching networks is X.25.
X.25 is an ITU-T standard that specifies an interface between a host system
and a packet-switching network. The functionality of X.25 is specified on three levels:
• Physical level
• Link level
• Packet level
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CHAPTER 10 / CIRCUIT SWITCHING AND PACKET SWITCHING
Mainframe
C
Personal
Server
computer
B
D
Personal
computer
Personal
computer
E
Packet-switching
Personal
network
computer
A
Solid line physical link
F
Dashed line virtual circuit
Figure 10.13
The Use of Virtual Circuits
The physical level deals with the physical interface between an attached station
(computer, terminal) and the link that attaches that station to the packet-switching
node. It makes use of the physical-level specification in a standard known as X.21, but
in many cases other standards, such as EIA-232, are substituted. The link level pro-
vides for the reliable transfer of data across the physical link, by transmitting the data
as a sequence of frames. The link level standard is referred to as LAPB (Link Access
Protocol-Balanced). LAPB is a subset of HDLC, which was described in Chapter 7.
The packet level provides a virtual circuit service. This service enables any sub-
scriber to the network to set up logical connections, called virtual circuits, to other
subscribers. An example is shown in Figure 10.13 (compare Figure 10.1). In this
example, station A has a virtual circuit connection to C; station B has two virtual cir-
cuits established, one to C and one to D; and stations E and F each have a virtual cir-
cuit connection to D.
In this context, the term virtual circuit refers to the logical connection between
two stations through the network; this is perhaps best termed an external virtual cir-
cuit. Earlier, we used the term virtual circuit to refer to a specific preplanned route
through the network between two stations; this could be called an internal virtual
circuit. Typically, there is a one-to-one relationship between external and internal
virtual circuits. However, it is also possible to employ X.25 with a datagram-style
network. What is important for an external virtual circuit is that there is a logical
relationship, or logical channel, established between two stations, and all of the data
10.7 / FRAME RELAY
319
User data
Layer 3
X.25 packet
header
LAPB
LAPB
LAPB frame
header
trailer
Figure 10.14
User Data and X.25 Protocol Control Information
associated with that logical channel are considered as part of a single stream of data
between the two stations. For example, in Figure 10.13, station D keeps track of data
packets arriving from three different workstations (B, E, F) on the basis of the vir-
tual circuit number associated with each incoming packet.
Figure 10.14 illustrates the relationship among the levels of X.25. User data
are passed down to X.25 level 3, which appends control information as a header, cre-
ating a packet. This control information serves several purposes, including
1. Identifying by number a particular virtual circuit with which this data is to be
associated
2. Providing sequence numbers that can be used for flow and error control on a
virtual circuit basis
The entire X.25 packet is then passed down to the LAPB entity, which
appends control information at the front and back of the packet, forming a LAPB
frame (see Figure 7.7). Again, the control information in the frame is needed for the
operation of the LAPB protocol.
The operation of the X.25 packet level is similar to that of HDLC as described
in Chapter 7. Each X.25 data packet includes send and receive sequence numbers.
The send sequence number, P(S), is used to number sequentially all outgoing data
packets on a particular virtual circuit. The receive sequence number, P(R), is an
acknowledgment of packets received on that virtual circuit.
10.7 FRAME RELAY
Frame relay is designed to provide a more efficient transmission scheme than X.25.The
standards for frame relay matured earlier than those for ATM, and commercial prod-
ucts also arrived earlier.Accordingly, there is a large installed base of frame relay prod-
ucts. Interest has since shifted to ATM for high-speed data networking, but because of
the remaining popularity of frame relay, we provide a survey in this section.
320
CHAPTER 10 / CIRCUIT SWITCHING AND PACKET SWITCHING
Background
The traditional approach to packet switching makes use of X.25, which not only
determines the user-network interface but also influences the internal design of the
network. The following are key features of the X.25 approach:
• Call control packets, used for setting up and clearing virtual circuits, are car-
ried on the same channel and same virtual circuit as data packets.
• Multiplexing of virtual circuits takes place at layer 3.
• Both layer 2 and layer 3 include flow control and error control mechanisms.
The X.25 approach results in considerable overhead. At each hop through the
network, the data link control protocol involves the exchange of a data frame and
an acknowledgment frame. Furthermore, at each intermediate node, state tables
must be maintained for each virtual circuit to deal with the call management and
flow control/error control aspects of the X.25 protocol. All of this overhead may be
justified when there is a significant probability of error on any of the links in the net-
work. This approach is not suitable for modern digital communication facilities.
Today’s networks employ reliable digital transmission technology over high-quality,
reliable transmission links, many of which are optical fiber. In addition, with the use
of optical fiber and digital transmission, high data rates can be achieved. In this envi-
ronment, the overhead of X.25 is not only unnecessary but degrades the effective
utilization of the available high data rates.
Frame relay is designed to eliminate much of the overhead that X.25 imposes
on end user systems and on the packet-switching network. The key differences
between frame relay and a conventional X.25 packet-switching service are as follows:
• Call control signaling, which is information needed to set up and manage a
connection, is carried on a separate logical connection from user data. Thus,
intermediate nodes need not maintain state tables or process messages relat-
ing to call control on an individual per-connection basis.
• Multiplexing and switching of logical connections takes place at layer 2
instead of layer 3, eliminating one entire layer of processing.
• There is no hop-by-hop flow control and error control. End-to-end flow con-
trol and error control are the responsibility of a higher layer, if they are
employed at all.
Thus, with frame relay, a single user data frame is sent from source to destina-
tion, and an acknowledgment, generated at a higher layer, may be carried back in a
frame. There are no hop-by-hop exchanges of data frames and acknowledgments.
Let us consider the advantages and disadvantages of this approach. The princi-
pal potential disadvantage of frame relay, compared to X.25, is that we have lost the
ability to do link-by-link flow and error control. (Although frame relay does not
provide end-to-end flow and error control, this is easily provided at a higher layer.)
In X.25, multiple virtual circuits are carried on a single physical link, and LAPB is
available at the link level for providing reliable transmission from the source to the
packet-switching network and from the packet-switching network to the destina-
tion. In addition, at each hop through the network, the link control protocol can be
10.7 / FRAME RELAY
321
Control plane
User plane
User plane
Control plane
Q.931/Q.933
Q.931/Q.933
User-selectable
functions
LAPD
LAPD (Q.921)
(Q.921)
LAPF core
LAPF core
(Q.922)
(Q.922)
I.430/I.431
I.430/I.431
User (TE)
S/T
Network (NT)
Figure 10.15
Frame Relay User-Network Interface Protocol Architecture
used for reliability. With the use of frame relay, this hop-by-hop link control is lost.
However, with the increasing reliability of transmission and switching facilities, this
is not a major disadvantage.
The advantage of frame relay is that we have streamlined the communications
process. The protocol functionality required at the user-network interface is reduced,
as is the internal network processing. As a result, lower delay and higher throughput
can be expected. Studies indicate an improvement in throughput using frame relay,
compared to X.25, of an order of magnitude or more [HARB92]. The ITU-T Rec-
ommendation I.233 indicates that frame relay is to be used at access speeds up to
2 Mbps. However, frame relay service at even higher data rates is now available.
Frame Relay Protocol Architecture
Figure 10.15 depicts the protocol architecture to support the frame mode bearer ser-
vice. We need to consider two separate planes of operation: a control (C) plane,
which is involved in the establishment and termination of logical connections, and a
user (U) plane, which is responsible for the transfer of user data between sub-
scribers. Thus, C-plane protocols are between a subscriber and the network, while
U-plane protocols provide end-to-end functionality.
Control Plane The control plane for frame mode bearer services is similar to that
for common channel signaling for circuit-switching services, in that a separate logi-
cal channel is used for control information. At the data link layer, LAPD (Q.921) is
used to provide a reliable data link control service, with error control and flow con-
trol, between user (TE) and network (NT). This data link service is used for the
exchange of Q.933 control signaling messages.
User Plane For the actual transfer of information between end users, the user-
plane protocol is LAPF (Link Access Procedure for Frame Mode Bearer Services),
which is defined in Q.922. Only the core functions of LAPF are used for frame relay:
322
CHAPTER 10 / CIRCUIT SWITCHING AND PACKET SWITCHING
• Frame delimiting, alignment, and transparency
• Frame multiplexing/demultiplexing using the address field
• Inspection of the frame to ensure that it consists of an integral number of
octets prior to zero bit insertion or following zero bit extraction
• Inspection of the frame to ensure that it is neither too long nor too short
• Detection of transmission errors
• Congestion control functions
The last function listed is new to LAPF. The remaining functions listed are
also functions of LAPD.
The core functions of LAPF in the user plane constitute a sublayer of the data
link layer. This provides the bare service of transferring data link frames from one
subscriber to another, with no flow control or error control. Above this, the user may
choose to select additional data link or network-layer end-to-end functions. These
are not part of the frame relay service. Based on the core functions, a network offers
frame relay as a connection-oriented link layer service with the following properties:
• Preservation of the order of frame transfer from one edge of the network to
the other
• A small probability of frame loss
As with X.25, frame relay involves the use of logical connections, in this case
called data link connections rather than virtual circuits. The frames transmitted over
these data link connections are not protected by a data link control pipe with flow
and error control. Another difference between X.25 and frame relay is that the lat-
ter devotes a separate data link connection to call control. The setting up and tear-
ing down of data link connections is done over this permanent control-oriented data
link connection.
The frame relay architecture significantly reduces the amount of work
required of the network. User data are transmitted in frames with virtually no pro-
cessing by the intermediate network nodes, other than to check for errors and to
route based on connection number. A frame in error is simply discarded, leaving
error recovery to higher layers.
User Data Transfer
The operation of frame relay for user data transfer is best explained by considering
the frame format, illustrated in Figure 10.16a. This is the format defined for the min-
imum-function LAPF protocol (known as LAPF core protocol). The format is simi-
lar to that of LAPD and LAPB with one obvious omission: There is no Control
field. This has the following implications:
• There is only one frame type, used for carrying user data. There are no control
frames.
• It is not possible to perform all control on the connection; a logical connection
can only carry user data.
• It is not possible to perform flow control and error control, because there are
no sequence numbers.
10.7 / FRAME RELAY
323
Flag
Address
Information
FCS
Flag
1
2-4
Variable
2
1
octet
(a) Frame format
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
Upper DLCI
C/R
EA 0
Upper DLCI
C/R
EA 0
Lower DLCI
FECN
BECN
DE
EA 1
DLCI
FECN
BECN
DE
EA 0
(b) Address field—2 octets (default)
DLCI
EA 0
Lower DLCI or DL-CORE control
D/C
EA 1
(d) Address field—4 octets
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
Upper DLCI
C/R
EA 0
DLCI
FECN
BECN
DE
EA 0
EA Address field extension bit
C/R
Command/response bit
Lower DLCI or DL-CORE control
D/C
EA 1
FECN
Forward explicit congestion
notification
(c) Address field—3 octets
BECN Backward explicit congestion
notification
DLCI Data link connection identifier
D/C
DLCI or DL-CORE control indicator
DE
Discard eligibility
Figure 10.16
LAPF-Core Formats
The Flag and Frame Check Sequence (FCS) fields function as in HDLC.
The information field carries higher-layer data. If the user selects to implement
additional data link control functions end to end, then a data link frame can be
carried in this field. Specifically, a common selection will be to use the full LAPF
protocol (known as LAPF control protocol), to perform functions above the
LAPF core functions. Note that the protocol implemented in this fashion is
strictly between the end subscribers and is transparent to the frame relay net-
work.
The address field has a default length of 2 octets and may be extended to 3
or 4 octets. It carries a data link connection identifier (DLCI) of 10, 16, or 23 bits.
The DLCI serves the same function as the virtual circuit number in X.25: It
allows multiple logical frame relay connections to be multiplexed over a single
channel. As in X.25, the connection identifier has only local significance: Each
end of the logical connection assigns its own DLCI from the pool of locally
unused numbers, and the network must map from one to the other. The alterna-
tive, using the same DLCI on both ends, would require some sort of global man-
agement of DLCI values.
The length of the Address field, and hence of the DLCI, is determined by the
Address field extension (EA) bits. The C/R bit is application specific and not used
by the standard frame relay protocol. The remaining bits in the address field have to
do with congestion control and are discussed in Chapter 13.
324
CHAPTER 10 / CIRCUIT SWITCHING AND PACKET SWITCHING
10.8
RECOMMENDED READING AND WEB SITES
As befits its age, circuit switching has inspired a voluminous literature. Two good books on
the subject are [BELL00] and [FREE04].
The literature on packet switching is enormous. Books with good treatments of this
subject include [BERT92] and [SPRA91]. [ROBE78] is a classic paper on how packet switch-
ing technology evolved. [RYBZ80] is a good tutorial on X.25. [BARA02] and [HEGG84] are
also interesting.
A more in-depth treatment of frame relay can be found in [STAL99]. An excellent
book-length treatment is [BUCK00]. [CHER89] is a good tutorial on frame relay.
BARA02
Baran, P. “The Beginnings of Packet Switching: Some Underlying Concepts.”
IEEE Communications Magazine, July 2002.
BELL00
Bellamy, J. Digital Telephony. New York: Wiley, 2000.
BERT92
Bertsekas, D., and Gallager, R. Data Networks. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice
Hall, 1992.
BUCK00
Buckwalter, J. Frame Relay: Technology and Practice. Reading, MA: Addison-
Wesley, 2000.
CHER89
Cherukuri, R., and Derby, R. “Frame Relay: Protocols and Private Network
Applications.” Proceedings, IEEE INFOCOM ’89, 1989.
FREE04
Freeman, R. Telecommunication System Engineering. New York: Wiley, 1996.
HEGG84
Heggestad, H. “An Overview of Packet Switching Communications.” IEEE
Communications Magazine, April 1984.
ROBE78
Roberts, L. “The Evolution of Packet Switching.” Proceedings of the IEEE,
November 1978.
RYBZ80
Rybzzynski, A. “X.25 Interface and End-to-End Virtual Circuit Characteris-
tics.” IEEE Transactions on Communications, April 1980.
SPRA91
Spragins, J,; Hammond, J.; and Pawlikowski, K. Telecommunications Protocols
and Design. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1991.
STAL99
Stallings, W. ISDN and Broadband ISDN, with Frame Relay and ATM. Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1999.
Recommended Web sites:
• International Packet Communications Consortium: News, technical information, and
vendor information on softswitch technology and products
• Media Gateway Control Working Group: Chartered by IETF to develop the media
gateway control protocol and related standards
• Frame Relay Resource: Good source of tutorials, service providers, and other links
• Frame Relay Resource Center: Good source of information on frame relay
10.9 / KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
325
10.9 KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
Key Terms
circuit switching
space division switching
subscriber line
circuit-switching network
frame relay
subscriber loop
control signaling
LAPB
time division switching
crossbar matrix
LAPF
trunk
datagram
local loop
virtual circuit
digital switch
media gateway controller
X.25
exchange
packet switching
softswitch
subscriber
Review Questions
10.1. Why is it useful to have more than one possible path through a network for each pair
of stations?
10.2. What are the four generic architectural components of a public communications net-
work? Define each term.
10.3. What is the principal application that has driven the design of circuit-switching net-
works?
10.4. What are the advantages of packet switching compared to circuit switching?
10.5. Explain the difference between datagram and virtual circuit operation.
10.6. What is the significance of packet size in a packet-switching network?
10.7. What types of delay are significant in assessing the performance of a packet-switching
network?
10.8. How does frame relay differ from X.25?
10.9. What are the relative advantages and disadvantages of frame relay compared to
X.25?
Problems
10.1
Consider a simple telephone network consisting of two end offices and one interme-
diate switch with a 1-MHz full-duplex trunk between each end office and the inter-
mediate switch. Assume a 4-kHz channel for each voice call. The average telephone is
used to make four calls per 8-hour workday, with a mean call duration of six minutes.
Ten percent of the calls are long distance. What is the maximum number of tele-
phones an end office can support?
10.2
a. If a crossbar matrix has n input lines and m output lines, how many crosspoints are
required?
b. How many crosspoints would be required if there were no distinction between
input and output lines (i.e., if any line could be interconnected to any other line
serviced by the crossbar)?
c. Show the minimum configuration.
10.3
Consider a three-stage switch such as Figure 10.6. Assume that there are a total of N
input lines and N output lines for the overall three-stage switch. If n is the number of
input lines to a stage 1 crossbar and the number of output lines to a stage 3 crossbar,
then there are N/n stage 1 crossbars and N/n stage 3 crossbars. Assume each stage 1
crossbar has one output line going to each stage 2 crossbar, and each stage 2 crossbar
326
CHAPTER 10 / CIRCUIT SWITCHING AND PACKET SWITCHING
has one output line going to each stage 3 crossbar. For such a configuration it can be
shown that, for the switch to be nonblocking, the number of stage 2 crossbar matrices
must equal
2n - 1.
a. What is the total number of crosspoints among all the crossbar switches?
b. For a given value of N, the total number of crosspoints depends on the value of n.
That is, the value depends on how many crossbars are used in the first stage to
handle the total number of input lines. Assuming a large number of input lines to
each crossbar (large value of n), what is the minimum number of crosspoints for a
nonblocking configuration as a function of n?
c. For a range of N from
to
plot the number of crosspoints for a single-stage
102
106,
switch and an optimum three-stage crossbar switch.
N * N
10.4
Explain the flaw in the following reasoning: Packet switching requires control and
address bits to be added to each packet. This introduces considerable overhead in
packet switching. In circuit switching, a transparent circuit is established. No extra bits
are needed. Therefore, there is no overhead in circuit switching. Because there is no
overhead in circuit switching, line utilization must be more efficient than in packet
switching.
10.5
Define the following parameters for a switching network:
N = number of hops between two given end systems
L = message length in bits
B = data rate, in bits per second 1bps2, on all links
P = fixed packet size, in bits
H = overhead 1header2 bits per packet
S = call setup time 1circuit switching or virtual circuit2 in seconds
D = propagation delay per hop in seconds
a. For
com-
N = 4, L = 3200, B = 9600, P = 1024, H = 16, S = 0.2, D = 0.001,
pute the end-to-end delay for circuit switching, virtual circuit packet switching,
and datagram packet switching. Assume that there are no acknowledgments.
Ignore processing delay at the nodes.
b. Derive general expressions for the three techniques of part (a), taken two at a time
(three expressions in all), showing the conditions under which the delays are equal.
10.6
What value of P, as a function of N, L, and H, results in minimum end-to-end delay on
a datagram network? Assume that L is much larger than P, and D is zero.
10.7
Assuming no malfunction in any of the stations or nodes of a network, is it possible
for a packet to be delivered to the wrong destination?
10.8
Flow-control mechanisms are used at both levels 2 and 3 of X.25. Are both necessary,
or is this redundant? Explain.
10.9
There is no error-detection mechanism (frame check sequence) in X.25 level three.
Isn’t this needed to assure that all of the packets are delivered properly?
10.10
In X.25, why is the virtual circuit number used by one station of two communicating
stations different from the virtual circuit number used by the other station? After all,
it is the same full-duplex virtual circuit.
10.11
Q.933 recommends a procedure for negotiating the sliding-window flow control win-
dow, which may take on a value from 1 to 127. The negotiation makes use of a variable
k that is calculated from the following parameters:
Ld = data frame size in octets
Ru = throughput in bps
T
td
= end-to-end transit delay in seconds
k = window size 1maximum number of outstanding I frames2
10.9 / KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
327
The procedure is described as follows:
The window size should be negotiated as follows. The originating user
should calculate k using the above formula substituting maximum end-to-
end transit delay and outgoing maximum frame size for Ttd and
Ld,
respectively. The SETUP message shall include the link layer protocol
parameters, the link layer core parameters, and the end-to-end transit
delay information elements. The destination user should calculate its own
k using the above formula substituting cumulative end-to-end transit
delay and its own outgoing maximum frame size for T and
respec-
Ld,
td
tively. The CONNECT message shall include the link layer core parame-
ters and the end-to-end transit delay information element so that the
originating user can adjust its k based on the information conveyed in
these information elements. The originating user should calculate k using
the above formula, substituting cumulative end-to-end transit delay and
incoming maximum frame size for T and
respectively.
Ld,
td
SETUP and CONNECT are messages exchanged on a control channel during the
setup of a frame relay connection. Suggest a formula for calculating k from the other
variables and justify the formula.
CHAPTER11
ASYNCHRONOUS TRANSFER MODE
11.1
Protocol Architecture
11.2
ATM Logical Connections
11.3
ATM Cells
11.4
Transmission of ATM Cells
11.5
ATM Service Categories
11.6
Recommended Reading and Web Sites
11.7
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
328
11.1 / PROTOCOL ARCHITECTURE
329
One man had a vision of railways that would link all the mainline railroad termini.
His name was Charles Pearson and, though born the son of an upholsterer, he became
Solicitor to the city of London. There had previously been a plan for gaslit subway
streets through which horse-drawn traffic could pass. This was rejected on the
grounds that such sinister tunnels would become lurking places for thieves. Twenty
years before his system was built, Pearson envisaged a line running through “a spa-
cious archway,” well-lit and well-ventilated. His was a scheme for trains in a drain.
—King Solomon’s Carpet. Barbara Vine (Ruth Rendell)
KEY POINTS
•
ATM is a streamlined packet transfer interface. ATM makes use of
fixed-size packets, called cells. The use of a fixed size and fixed format
results in an efficient scheme for transmission over high-speed net-
works.
•
Some form of transmission structure must be used to transport ATM
cells. One option is the use of a continuous stream of cells, with no multi-
plex frame structure imposed at the interface. Synchronization is on a
cell-by-cell basis. The second option is to place the cells in a synchronous
time-division multiplex envelope. In this case, the bit stream at the inter-
face has an external frame based on the Synchronous Digital Hierarchy
(SDH).
•
ATM provides both real-time and non-real-time services. An ATM-
based network can support a wide range of traffic, include synchro-
nous TDM streams such as T-1, using the constant bit rate (CBR)
service; compressed voice and video, using the real-time variable bit
rate (rt-VBR) service; traffic with specific quality-of-service require-
ments, using the non-real-time VBR (nrt-VBR) service; and IP-based
traffic using the available bit rate (ABR), unspecified bit rate (UBR),
and guaranteed frame rate (GFR) services.
Asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), also known as cell relay, takes advantage of
the reliability and fidelity of modern digital facilities to provide faster packet
switching than X.25.
11.1 PROTOCOL ARCHITECTURE
Asynchronous transfer mode is in some ways similar to packet switching using X.25
and to frame relay. Like packet switching and frame relay, ATM involves the transfer
of data in discrete chunks. Also, like packet switching and frame relay, ATM allows
multiple logical connections to be multiplexed over a single physical interface. In the
330
CHAPTER 11 / ASYNCHRONOUS TRANSFER MODE
Management plane
Control plane
User plane
Higher layer
ATM adaptation layer (AAL)
ATM layer
Physical layer
Figure 11.1
ATM Protocol Architecture
case of ATM, the information flow on each logical connection is organized into fixed-
size packets, called cells.
ATM is a streamlined protocol with minimal error and flow control capabili-
ties. This reduces the overhead of processing ATM cells and reduces the number of
overhead bits required with each cell, thus enabling ATM to operate at high data
rates. Further, the use of fixed-size cells simplifies the processing required at each
ATM node, again supporting the use of ATM at high data rates.
The standards issued for ATM by ITU-T are based on the protocol architec-
ture shown in Figure 11.1, which illustrates the basic architecture for an interface
between user and network. The physical layer involves the specification of a trans-
mission medium and a signal encoding scheme. The data rates specified at the phys-
ical layer range from 25.6 Mbps to 622.08 Mbps. Other data rates, both higher and
lower, are possible.
Two layers of the protocol architecture relate to ATM functions. There is an
ATM layer common to all services that provides packet transfer capabilities, and an
ATM adaptation layer (AAL) that is service dependent. The ATM layer defines the
transmission of data in fixed-size cells and defines the use of logical connections.
The use of ATM creates the need for an adaptation layer to support information
transfer protocols not based on ATM. The AAL maps higher-layer information into
ATM cells to be transported over an ATM network, then collects information from
ATM cells for delivery to higher layers.
The protocol reference model involves three separate planes:
• User plane: Provides for user information transfer, along with associated con-
trols (e.g., flow control, error control)
• Control plane: Performs call control and connection control functions
• Management plane: Includes plane management, which performs manage-
ment functions related to a system as a whole and provides coordination
between all the planes, and layer management, which performs management
functions relating to resources and parameters residing in its protocol entities
11.2 / ATM LOGICAL CONNECTIONS
331
11.2
ATM LOGICAL CONNECTIONS
Logical connections in ATM are referred to as virtual channel connections (VCCs).
A VCC is analogous to a virtual circuit in X.25; it is the basic unit of switching in an
ATM network. A VCC is set up between two end users through the network and a
variable-rate, full-duplex flow of fixed-size cells is exchanged over the connection.
VCCs are also used for user-network exchange (control signaling) and network-net-
work exchange (network management and routing).
For ATM, a second sublayer of processing has been introduced that deals with
the concept of virtual path (Figure 11.2). A virtual path connection (VPC) is a bun-
dle of VCCs that have the same endpoints. Thus, all of the cells flowing over all of
the VCCs in a single VPC are switched together.
The virtual path concept was developed in response to a trend in high-speed
networking in which the control cost of the network is becoming an increasingly
higher proportion of the overall network cost. The virtual path technique helps
contain the control cost by grouping connections sharing common paths through
the network into a single unit. Network management actions can then be applied to
a small number of groups of connections instead of a large number of individual
connections.
Several advantages can be listed for the use of virtual paths:
• Simplified network architecture: Network transport functions can be sepa-
rated into those related to an individual logical connection (virtual channel)
and those related to a group of logical connections (virtual path).
• Increased network performance and reliability: The network deals with fewer,
aggregated entities.
• Reduced processing and short connection setup time: Much of the work is
done when the virtual path is set up. By reserving capacity on a virtual path
connection in anticipation of later call arrivals, new virtual channel connec-
tions can be established by executing simple control functions at the endpoints
of the virtual path connection; no call processing is required at transit nodes.
Thus, the addition of new virtual channels to an existing virtual path involves
minimal processing.
• Enhanced network services: The virtual path is used internal to the network
but is also visible to the end user. Thus, the user may define closed user groups
or closed networks of virtual channel bundles.
Virtual path
Physical
transmission path
Figure 11.2
ATM Connection Relationships
332
CHAPTER 11 / ASYNCHRONOUS TRANSFER MODE
Request for
VCC originates
Yes
Can quality
Yes
VPC exists?
of service
be satisfied?
No
No
Block VCC or
Establish a
request more
new VPC
capacity
Request
Yes
Make
granted?
connection
No
Reject VCC
request
Figure 11.3
Call Establishent Using Virtual Paths
Figure 11.3 suggests in a general way the call establishment process using
virtual channels and virtual paths. The process of setting up a virtual path con-
nection is decoupled from the process of setting up an individual virtual channel
connection:
• The virtual path control mechanisms include calculating routes, allocating
capacity, and storing connection state information.
• To set up a virtual channel, there must first be a virtual path connection to the
required destination node with sufficient available capacity to support the vir-
tual channel, with the appropriate quality of service. A virtual channel is set up
by storing the required state information (virtual channel/virtual path mapping).
11.2 / ATM LOGICAL CONNECTIONS
333
Table 11.1
Virtual Path/Virtual Channel Terminology
Virtual Channel (VC)
A generic term used to describe unidirectional transport of ATM cells
associated by a common unique identifier value.
Virtual Channel Link
A means of unidirectional transport of ATM cells between a point where a
VCI value is assigned and the point where that value is translated or termi-
nated.
Virtual Channel Identifier
A unique numerical tag that identifies a particular VC link for a given
(VCI)
VPC.
Virtual Channel Connection
A concatenation of VC links that extends between two points where ATM
(VCC)
service users access the ATM layer. VCCs are provided for the purpose of
user-user, user-network, or network-network information transfer. Cell
sequence integrity is preserved for cells belonging to the same VCC.
Virtual Path
A generic term used to describe unidirectional transport of ATM cells
belonging to virtual channels that are associated by a common unique
identifier value.
Virtual Path Link
A group of VC links, identified by a common value of VPI, between a point
where a VPI value is assigned and the point where that value is translated
or terminated.
Virtual Path Identifier (VPI)
Identifies a particular VP link.
Virtual Path Connection (VPC)
A concatenation of VP links that extends between the point where the VCI
values are assigned and the point where those values are translated or
removed, i.e., extending the length of a bundle of VC links that share the
same VPI. VPCs are provided for the purpose of user-user, user-network,
or network-network information transfer.
The terminology of virtual paths and virtual channels used in the standard is a
bit confusing and is summarized in Table 11.1. Whereas most of the network-layer
protocols that we deal with in this book relate only to the user-network interface, the
concepts of virtual path and virtual channel are defined in the ITU-T Recommenda-
tions with reference to both the user-network interface and the internal network
operation.
Virtual Channel Connection Uses
The endpoints of a VCC may be end users, network entities, or an end user and a
network entity. In all cases, cell sequence integrity is preserved within a VCC: that is,
cells are delivered in the same order in which they are sent. Let us consider exam-
ples of the three uses of a VCC:
• Between end users: Can be used to carry end-to-end user data; can also be
used to carry control signaling between end users, as explained later. A VPC
between end users provides them with an overall capacity; the VCC organiza-
tion of the VPC is up to the two end users, provided the set of VCCs does not
exceed the VPC capacity.
334
CHAPTER 11 / ASYNCHRONOUS TRANSFER MODE
• Between an end user and a network entity: Used for user-to-network control
signaling, as discussed subsequently. A user-to-network VPC can be used to
aggregate traffic from an end user to a network exchange or network server.
• Between two network entities: Used for network traffic management and
routing functions. A network-to-network VPC can be used to define a com-
mon route for the exchange of network management information.
Virtual Path/Virtual Channel Characteristics
ITU-T Recommendation I.150 lists the following as characteristics of virtual chan-
nel connections:
• Quality of service (QoS): A user of a VCC is provided with a QoS specified by
parameters such as cell loss ratio (ratio of cells lost to cells transmitted) and
cell delay variation.
• Switched and semipermanent virtual channel connections: A switched VCC is
an on-demand connection, which requires a call control signaling for setup and
tearing down. A semipermanent VCC is one that is of long duration and is set
up by configuration or network management action.
• Cell sequence integrity: The sequence of transmitted cells within a VCC is pre-
served.
• Traffic parameter negotiation and usage monitoring: Traffic parameters can
be negotiated between a user and the network for each VCC. The network
monitors the input of cells to the VCC, to ensure that the negotiated parame-
ters are not violated.
The types of traffic parameters that can be negotiated include average rate, peak
rate, burstiness, and peak duration. The network may need a number of strategies to
deal with congestion and to manage existing and requested VCCs.At the crudest level,
the network may simply deny new requests for VCCs to prevent congestion. Addi-
tionally, cells may be discarded if negotiated parameters are violated or if congestion
becomes severe. In an extreme situation, existing connections might be terminated.
I.150 also lists characteristics of VPCs. The first four characteristics listed are
identical to those for VCCs. That is, QoS; switched and semipermanent VPCs; cell
sequence integrity; and traffic parameter negotiation and usage monitoring are all
also characteristics of a VPC. There are a number of reasons for this duplication.
First, this provides some flexibility in how the network service manages the require-
ments placed upon it. Second, the network must be concerned with the overall
requirements for a VPC, and within a VPC may negotiate the establishment of vir-
tual channels with given characteristics. Finally, once a VPC is set up, it is possible
for the end users to negotiate the creation of new VCCs. The VPC characteristics
impose a discipline on the choices that the end users may make.
In addition, a fifth characteristic is listed for VPCs:
• Virtual channel identifier restriction within a VPC: One or more virtual chan-
nel identifiers, or numbers, may not be available to the user of the VPC but
may be reserved for network use. Examples include VCCs used for network
management.
11.3 / ATM CELLS
335
Control Signaling
In ATM, a mechanism is needed for the establishment and release of VPCs and
VCCs. The exchange of information involved in this process is referred to as con-
trol signaling and takes place on separate connections from those that are being
managed.
For VCCs, I.150 specifies four methods for providing an establishment/release
facility. One or a combination of these methods will be used in any particular net-
work:
1.
Semipermanent VCCs may be used for user-to-user exchange. In this case, no
control signaling is required.
2.
If there is no preestablished call control signaling channel, then one must be set
up. For that purpose, a control signaling exchange must take place between the
user and the network on some channel. Hence we need a permanent channel,
probably of low data rate, that can be used to set up VCCs that can be used for
call control. Such a channel is called a meta-signaling channel, as the channel is
used to set up signaling channels.
3.
The meta-signaling channel can be used to set up a VCC between the user and
the network for call control signaling. This user-to-network signaling virtual
channel can then be used to set up VCCs to carry user data.
4.
The meta-signaling channel can also be used to set up a user-to-user signaling
virtual channel. Such a channel must be set up within a preestablished VPC. It
can then be used to allow the two end users, without network intervention, to
establish and release user-to-user VCCs to carry user data.
For VPCs, three methods are defined in I.150:
1.
A VPC can be established on a semipermanent basis by prior agreement. In
this case, no control signaling is required.
2.
VPC establishment/release may be customer controlled. In this case, the cus-
tomer uses a signaling VCC to request the VPC from the network.
3.
VPC establishment/release may be network controlled. In this case, the net-
work establishes a VPC for its own convenience. The path may be network-to-
network, user-to-network, or user-to-user.
11.3 ATM CELLS
The asynchronous transfer mode makes use of fixed-size cells, consisting of a 5-octet
header and a 48-octet information field. There are several advantages to the use of
small, fixed-size cells. First, the use of small cells may reduce queuing delay for a
high-priority cell, because it waits less if it arrives slightly behind a lower-priority
cell that has gained access to a resource (e.g., the transmitter). Second, it appears
that fixed-size cells can be switched more efficiently, which is important for the very
high data rates of ATM [PARE88]. With fixed-size cells, it is easier to implement the
switching mechanism in hardware.
336
CHAPTER 11 / ASYNCHRONOUS TRANSFER MODE
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
Generic Flow Control Virtual Path Identifier
Virtual Path Identifier
Virtual Path Identifier
5-octet
Virtual Channel Identifier
Virtual Channel Identifier
header
Payload Type
CLP
Payload Type
CLP
Header Error Control
Header Error Control
53-octet
cell
Information field
Information field
(48 octets)
(48 octets)
(a) User-network interface
(b) Network-network interface
Figure 11.4
ATM Cell Format
Header Format
Figure 11.4a shows the cell header format at the user-network interface. Figure
11.4b shows the cell header format internal to the network.
The Generic Flow Control (GFC) field does not appear in the cell header internal
to the network, but only at the user-network interface. Hence, it can be used for control
of cell flow only at the local user-network interface. The field could be used to assist the
customer in controlling the flow of traffic for different qualities of service. In any case,
the GFC mechanism is used to alleviate short-term overload conditions in the network.
I.150 lists as a requirement for the GFC mechanism that all terminals be able
to get access to their assured capacities. This includes all constant-bit-rate (CBR)
terminals as well as the variable-bit-rate (VBR) terminals that have an element of
guaranteed capacity (CBR and VBR are explained in Section 11.5). The current
GFC mechanism is described in a subsequent subsection.
The Virtual Path Identifier (VPI) constitutes a routing field for the network. It is
8 bits at the user-network interface and 12 bits at the network-network interface. The
11.3 / ATM CELLS
337
Table 11.2
Payload Type (PT) Field Coding
PT Coding
Interpretation
0 0 0
User data cell,
congestion not experienced,
SDU-type = 0
0 0 1
User data cell,
congestion not experienced,
SDU-type = 1
0 1 0
User data cell,
congestion experienced,
SDU-type = 0
0 1 1
User data cell,
congestion experienced,
SDU-type = 1
1 0 0
OAM segment associated cell
1 0 1
OAM end-to-end associated cell
1 1 0
Resource management cell
1 1 1
Reserved for future function
SDU = Service Data Unit
OAM = Operations, Administration, and Maintenance
latter allows support for an expanded number of VPCs internal to the network, to
include those supporting subscribers and those required for network management.
The Virtual Channel Identifier (VCI) is used for routing to and from the end user.
The Payload Type (PT) field indicates the type of information in the information
field. Table 11.2 shows the interpretation of the PT bits. A value of 0 in the first bit indi-
cates user information (that is, information from the next higher layer). In this case, the
second bit indicates whether congestion has been experienced; the third bit, known as
the Service Data Unit (SDU)1 type bit, is a one-bit field that can be used to discrimi-
nate two types of ATM SDUs associated with a connection.The term SDU refers to the
48-octet payload of the cell. A value of 1 in the first bit of the Payload Type field indi-
cates that this cell carries network management or maintenance information. This indi-
cation allows the insertion of network-management cells onto a user’s VCC without
impacting the user’s data. Thus, the PT field can provide inband control information.
The Cell Loss Priority (CLP) bit is used to provide guidance to the network
in the event of congestion. A value of 0 indicates a cell of relatively higher prior-
ity, which should not be discarded unless no other alternative is available.A value
of 1 indicates that this cell is subject to discard within the network. The user
might employ this field so that extra cells (beyond the negotiated rate) may be
inserted into the network, with a CLP of 1, and delivered to the destination if the
network is not congested. The network may set this field to 1 for any data cell
that is in violation of an agreement concerning traffic parameters between the
user and the network. In this case, the switch that does the setting realizes that
the cell exceeds the agreed traffic parameters but that the switch is capable of
handling the cell. At a later point in the network, if congestion is encountered,
this cell has been marked for discard in preference to cells that fall within agreed
traffic limits.
1This is the term used in ATM Forum documents. In ITU-T documents, this bit is referred to as the
ATM-user-to-ATM-user (AAU) indication bit. The meaning is the same.
338
CHAPTER 11 / ASYNCHRONOUS TRANSFER MODE
The Header Error Control (HEC) field is used for both error control and syn-
chronization, as explained subsequently.
Generic Flow Control
I.150 specifies the use of the GFC field to control traffic flow at the user-network
interface (UNI) in order to alleviate short-term overload conditions. The actual flow
control mechanism is defined in I.361. GFC flow control is part of a proposed con-
trolled cell transfer (CCT) capability intended to meet the requirements of non-
ATM LANs connected to a wide area ATM network [LUIN97]. In particular, CCT
is intended to provide good service for high-volume bursty traffic with variable-
length messages. In the remainder of this subsection, we examine the GFC mecha-
nism, as so far standardized.
When the equipment at the UNI is configured to support the GFC mecha-
nism, two sets of procedures are used: uncontrolled transmission and controlled
transmission. In essence, every connection is identified as either subject to flow
control or not. Of those subject to flow control, there may be one group of con-
trolled connections (Group A) that is the default, or controlled traffic may be
classified into two groups of controlled connections (Group A and Group B);
these are known, respectively, as the one-queue and two-queue models. Flow
control is exercised in the direction from the subscriber to the network by the
network side.
First, we consider the operation of the GFC mechanism when there is only
one group of controlled connections. The controlled equipment, called terminal
equipment (TE), initializes two variables: TRANSMIT is a flag initialized to
SET (1), and GO_CNTR, which is a credit counter, is initialized to 0. A third
variable, GO_VALUE, is either initialized to 1 or set to some larger value at
configuration time. The rules for transmission by the controlled device are as
follows:
1. If
cells on uncontrolled connections may be sent at any
TRANSMIT = 1,
time. If
no cells may be sent on either controlled or uncon-
TRANSMIT = 0,
trolled connections.
2. If a HALT signal is received from the controlling equipment, TRANSMIT is set
to 0 and remains at zero until a NO_HALT signal is received, at which time
TRANSMIT is set to 1.
3. If
and there is no cell to transmit on any uncontrolled connec-
TRANSMIT = 1
tions, then
• —If
then the TE may send a cell on a controlled connec-
GO
_CNTR70,
tion. The TE marks that cell as a cell on a controlled connection and decre-
ments GO_CNTR.
• —If
then the TE may not send a cell on a controlled con-
GO
_CNTR=0,
nection.
4. The TE sets GO_CNTR to GO_VALUE upon receiving a SET signal; a null
signal has no effect on GO_CNTR.
11.3 / ATM CELLS
339
Table 11.3
Generic Flow Control (GFC) Field Coding
Controlling : controlled
Controlled : controlling
Uncontrolled
1-Queue Model
2-Queue Model
1-Queue Model
2-Queue Model
First bit
0
HALT(0)/
HALT(0)/
0
0
NO_HALT(1)
NO_HALT(1)
Second bit
0
SET(1)/NULL(0)
SET(1)/NULL(0)
cell belongs to
cell belongs to
for Group A
controlled(1)/
Group A(1)/
uncontrolled(0)
or not (0)
Third bit
0
0
SET(1)/NULL(0)
0
cell belongs to
for Group B
Group B(1)/
or not (0)
Fourth bit
0
0
0
equipment is
equipment is
uncontrolled(0)/
uncontrolled(0)/
controlled(1)
controlled(1)
The HALT signal is used logically to limit the effective ATM data rate and
should be cyclic. For example, to reduce the data rate over a link by half, the HALT
command is issued by the controlling equipment so as to be in effect 50% of the
time. This is done in a predictable, regular pattern over the lifetime of the physical
connection.
For the two-queue model, there are two counters, each with a current counter
value and an initialization value: GO_CNTR_A, GO_VALUE_A, GO_CNTR_B,
and GO_VALUE_B. This enables the network to control two separate groups of
connections.
Table 11.3 summarizes the rules for setting GFC bits.
Header Error Control
Each ATM cell includes an 8-bit HEC field that is calculated based on the remain-
ing
32 bits of the header. The polynomial used to generate the code is
X8 + X2 + X + 1. In most existing protocols that include an error control field,
such as HDLC, the data that serve as input to the error code calculation are in gen-
eral much longer than the size of the resulting error code. This allows for error
detection. In the case of ATM, the input to the calculation is only 32 bits, compared
to 8 bits for the code. The fact that the input is relatively short allows the code to be
used not only for error detection but also, in some cases, for actual error correction.
This is because there is sufficient redundancy in the code to recover from certain
error patterns.
Figure 11.5 depicts the operation of the HEC algorithm at the receiver. At ini-
tialization, the receiver’s error correction algorithm is in the default mode for sin-
gle-bit error correction. As each cell is received, the HEC calculation and
comparison is performed. As long as no errors are detected, the receiver remains in
error correction mode. When an error is detected, the receiver will correct the error
if it is a single-bit error or will detect that a multibit error has occurred. In either
case, the receiver now moves to detection mode. In this mode, no attempt is made to
340
CHAPTER 11 / ASYNCHRONOUS TRANSFER MODE
Multibit error detected
(cell discarded)
No error detected
No error detected
(no action)
(no action)
Correction
Detection
mode
mode
Error detected
(cell discarded)
Single-bit error detected
(correction)
Figure 11.5
HEC Operation at Receiver
correct errors. The reason for this change is a recognition that a noise burst or other
event might cause a sequence of errors, a condition for which the HEC is insuffi-
cient for error correction. The receiver remains in detection mode as long as errored
cells are received. When a header is examined and found not to be in error, the
receiver switches back to correction mode. The flowchart of Figure 11.6 shows the
consequence of errors in the cell header.
The error protection function provides both recovery from single-bit header
errors and a low probability of the delivery of cells with errored headers under
bursty error conditions. The error characteristics of fiber-based transmission sys-
tems appear to be a mix of single-bit errors and relatively large burst errors. For
some transmission systems, the error correction capability, which is more time-con-
suming, might not be invoked.
Figure 11.7, based on one in ITU-T I.432, indicates how random bit errors
impact the probability of occurrence of discarded cells and valid cells with errored
headers when HEC is employed.
11.4 TRANSMISSION OF ATM CELLS
I.432 specifies that ATM cells may be transmitted at one of several data rates:
622.08 Mbps, 155.52 Mbps, 51.84 Mbps, or 25.6 Mbps.We need to specify the trans-
mission structure that will be used to carry this payload. Two approaches are de-
fined in I.432: a cell-based physical layer and an SDH-based physical layer.2 We
examine each of these approaches in turn.
Cell-Based Physical Layer
For the cell-based physical layer, no framing is imposed.The interface structure consists
of a continuous stream of 53-octet cells. Because there is no external frame imposed in
the cell-based approach, some form of synchronization is needed. Synchronization is
2The SDH-based approach is not defined for 25.6 Mbps.
11.4 / TRANSMISSION OF ATM CELLS
341
Incoming
cell
No
Error in
Yes
header?
Yes
Error
No
detected?
Correction
Detection
mode
Current
mode
mode?
Error de-
No
Yes
termined to be
incorrectable?
Successful
Correction
Unsuccessful
attempt
Valid cell
Apparently valid cell with
Discarded
(intended service)
errored header
cell
(unintended service)
Figure 11.6
Effect of Error in Cell Header
achieved on the basis of the HEC field in the cell header. The procedure is as follows
(Figure 11.8):
1. In the HUNT state, a cell delineation algorithm is performed bit by bit to
determine if the HEC coding law is observed (i.e., match between received
HEC and calculated HEC). Once a match is achieved, it is assumed that one
header has been found, and the method enters the PRESYNC state.
342
CHAPTER 11 / ASYNCHRONOUS TRANSFER MODE
104
Discarded cell
1010
probability
1016
22
Probability of
10
valid cells with
errored headers
1028
8
1010
109
10
107
106
105
104
Bit error probability
Figure 11.7
Impact of Random Bit Errors on HEC Performance
Bit by bit
HUNT
Correct HEC
Incorrect
HEC
PRESYNC Cell by cell
A consecutive
incorrect HEC
D consecutive
correct HEC
SYNC
Cell by cell
Figure 11.8
Cell Delineation State Diagram
11.4 / TRANSMISSION OF ATM CELLS
343
2. In the PRESYNC state, a cell structure is now assumed.The cell delineation algo-
rithm is performed cell by cell until the encoding law has been confirmed consec-
utively d times.
3. In the SYNC state, the HEC is used for error detection and correction (see
Figure 11.5). Cell delineation is assumed to be lost if the HEC coding law is
recognized consecutively as incorrect a times.
The values of a and d are design parameters. Greater values of d result in
longer delays in establishing synchronization but in greater robustness against false
delineation. Greater values of a result in longer delays in recognizing a misalign-
ment but in greater robustness against false misalignment. Figures 11.9 and 11.10,
based on I.432, show the impact of random bit errors on cell delineation perfor-
mance for various values of a and d. The first figure shows the average amount of
time that the receiver will maintain synchronization in the face of errors, with a as
a parameter. The second figure shows the average amount of time to acquire syn-
chronization as a function of error rate, with d as a parameter.
The advantage of using a cell-based transmission scheme is the simplified
interface that results when both transmission and transfer mode functions are based
on a common structure.
SDH-Based Physical Layer
The SDH-based physical layer imposes a structure on the ATM cell stream. In this
section, we look at the I.432 specification for 155.52 Mbps; similar structures are
used at other data rates. For the SDH-based physical layer, framing is imposed
for 155.52 Mbps
1040
A
9
1020 years
A
7
1030
1010 years
A
5
1020
1 year
1010
1 day
1 minute
105
1 second
100
106
105
104
103
102
Bit error probability (Re)
Figure 11.9
Impact of Random Bit Errors on Cell-Delineation Performance
344
CHAPTER 11 / ASYNCHRONOUS TRANSFER MODE
For 155.52 Mbps
100
200
50
100
in ms
20
50
D
8
D
6
10
D
4
20
5
106
105
104
103
102
Bit error probability (Re)
Figure 11.10
Acquisition Time versus Bit-Error Probability
using the STM-1 (STS-3) frame. Figure 11.11 shows the payload portion of an
STM-1 frame (see Figure 8.11). This payload may be offset from the beginning of
the frame, as indicated by the pointer in the section overhead of the frame.As can
be seen, the payload consists of a 9-octet path overhead portion and the remainder,
which contains ATM cells. Because the payload capacity (2340 octets) is not an
integer multiple of the cell length (53 octets), a cell may cross a payload boundary.
Path
overhead
260 columns
J1
•
•
•
B3
53 octets
C2
G1
F2
H4
•
•
•
Z3
Z4
Z5
•
•
•
Figure 11.11
STM-1 Payload for SDH-Based ATM Cell Transmission
11.5 / ATM SERVICE CATEGORIES
345
The H4 octet in the path overhead is set at the sending side to indicate the next
occurrence of a cell boundary. That is, the value in the H4 field indicates the number
of octets to the first cell boundary following the H4 octet. The permissible range of
values is 0 to 52.
The advantages of the SDH-based approach include the following:
• It can be used to carry either ATM-based or STM-based (synchronous trans-
fer mode) payloads, making it possible to initially deploy a high-capacity fiber-
based transmission infrastructure for a variety of circuit-switched and
dedicated applications and then readily migrate to the support of ATM.
• Some specific connections can be circuit switched using an SDH channel. For
example, a connection carrying constant-bit-rate video traffic can be mapped
into its own exclusive payload envelope of the STM-1 signal, which can be cir-
cuit switched. This may be more efficient than ATM switching.
• Using SDH synchronous multiplexing techniques, several ATM streams can
be combined to build interfaces with higher bit rates than those supported by
the ATM layer at a particular site. For example, four separate ATM streams,
each with a bit rate of 155 Mbps (STM-1), can be combined to build a 622-
Mbps (STM-4) interface. This arrangement may be more cost effective than
one using a single 622-Mbps ATM stream.
11.5
ATM SERVICE CATEGORIES
An ATM network is designed to be able to transfer many different types of traffic simul-
taneously, including real-time flows such as voice, video, and bursty TCP flows.Although
each such traffic flow is handled as a stream of 53-octet cells traveling through a virtual
channel, the way in which each data flow is handled within the network depends on the
characteristics of the traffic flow and the requirements of the application. For example,
real-time video traffic must be delivered within minimum variation in delay.
We examine the way in which an ATM network handles different types of traf-
fic flows in Chapter 13. In this section, we summarize ATM service categories, which
are used by an end system to identify the type of service required. The following ser-
vice categories have been defined by the ATM Forum:
• Real-Time Service
—Constant bit rate (CBR)
—Real-time variable bit rate (rt-VBR)
• Non-Real-Time Service
—Non-real-time variable bit rate (nrt-VBR)
—Available bit rate (ABR)
—Unspecified bit rate (UBR)
—Guaranteed frame rate (GFR)
Real-Time Services
The most important distinction among applications concerns the amount of delay and
the variability of delay, referred to as jitter, that the application can tolerate. Real-time
346
CHAPTER 11 / ASYNCHRONOUS TRANSFER MODE
applications typically involve a flow of information to a user that is intended to repro-
duce that flow at a source. For example, a user expects a flow of audio or video infor-
mation to be presented in a continuous, smooth fashion. A lack of continuity or
excessive loss results in significant loss of quality. Applications that involve interaction
between people have tight constraints on delay. Typically, any delay above a few hun-
dred milliseconds becomes noticeable and annoying. Accordingly, the demands in the
ATM network for switching and delivery of real-time data are high.
Constant Bit Rate (CBR) The CBR service is perhaps the simplest service to
define. It is used by applications that require a fixed data rate that is continuously
available during the connection lifetime and a relatively tight upper bound on trans-
fer delay. CBR is commonly used for uncompressed audio and video information.
Example of CBR applications include
• Videoconferencing
• Interactive audio (e.g., telephony)
• Audio/video distribution (e.g., television, distance learning, pay-per-view)
• Audio/video retrieval (e.g., video-on-demand, audio library)
Real-Time Variable Bit Rate
(rt-VBR) The rt-VBR category is
intended for time-sensitive applications; that is, those requiring tightly con-
strained delay and delay variation. The principal difference between applica-
tions appropriate for rt-VBR and those appropriate for CBR is that rt-VBR
applications transmit at a rate that varies with time. Equivalently, an rt-VBR
source can be characterized as somewhat bursty. For example, the standard
approach to video compression results in a sequence of image frames of varying
sizes. Because real-time video requires a uniform frame transmission rate, the
actual data rate varies.
The rt-VBR service allows the network more flexibility than CBR. The net-
work is able to statistically multiplex a number of connections over the same dedi-
cated capacity and still provide the required service to each connection.
Non-Real-Time Services
Non-real-time services are intended for applications that have bursty traffic charac-
teristics and do not have tight constraints on delay and delay variation. Accordingly,
the network has greater flexibility in handling such traffic flows and can make
greater use of statistical multiplexing to increase network efficiency.
Non-Real-Time Variable Bit Rate (nrt-VBR) For some non-real-time
applications, it is possible to characterize the expected traffic flow so that the net-
work can provide substantially improved QoS in the areas of loss and delay. Such
applications can use the nrt-VBR service. With this service, the end system specifies
a peak cell rate, a sustainable or average cell rate, and a measure of how bursty or
clumped the cells may be. With this information, the network can allocate resources
to provide relatively low delay and minimal cell loss.
The nrt-VBR service can be used for data transfers that have critical response-
time requirements. Examples include airline reservations, banking transactions, and
process monitoring.
11.5 / ATM SERVICE CATEGORIES
347
Unspecified Bit Rate (UBR) At any given time, a certain amount of the capac-
ity of an ATM network is consumed in carrying CBR and the two types of VBR traf-
fic. Additional capacity is available for one or both of the following reasons: (1) Not
all of the total resources have been committed to CBR and VBR traffic, and (2) the
bursty nature of VBR traffic means that at some times less than the committed
capacity is being used. All of this unused capacity could be made available for the
UBR service. This service is suitable for applications that can tolerate variable delays
and some cell losses, which is typically true of TCP-based traffic. With UBR, cells are
forwarded on a first-in-first-out (FIFO) basis using the capacity not consumed by
other services; both delays and variable losses are possible. No initial commitment is
made to a UBR source and no feedback concerning congestion is provided; this is
referred to as a best-effort service. Examples of UBR applications include
• Text/data/image transfer, messaging, distribution, retrieval
• Remote terminal (e.g., telecommuting)
Available Bit Rate (ABR) Bursty applications that use a reliable end-to-end pro-
tocol such as TCP can detect congestion in a network by means of increased round-
trip delays and packet discarding. This is discussed in Chapter 20. However, TCP has
no mechanism for causing the resources within the network to be shared fairly among
many TCP connections. Further, TCP does not minimize congestion as efficiently as is
possible using explicit information from congested nodes within the network.
To improve the service provided to bursty sources that would otherwise use UBR,
the ABR service has been defined. An application using ABR specifies a peak cell rate
(PCR) that it will use and a minimum cell rate (MCR) that it requires.The network allo-
cates resources so that all ABR applications receive at least their MCR capacity. Any
unused capacity is then shared in a fair and controlled fashion among all ABR sources.
The ABR mechanism uses explicit feedback to sources to assure that capacity is fairly
allocated. Any capacity not used by ABR sources remains available for UBR traffic.
An example of an application using ABR is LAN interconnection. In this case,
the end systems attached to the ATM network are routers.
Figure 11.12 suggests how a network allocates resources during a steady-state
period of time (no additions or deletions of virtual channels).
100%
Available bit rate
and
unspecified bit rate
Percentage
of line
Variable bit rate
capacity
Constant bit rate
0
Time
Figure 11.12
ATM Bit Rate Services
348
CHAPTER 11 / ASYNCHRONOUS TRANSFER MODE
Guaranteed Frame Rate (GFR) The most recent addition to the set of ATM
service categories is GFR, which is designed specifically to support IP backbone
subnetworks. GFR provides better service than UBR for frame-based traffic,
including IP and Ethernet. A major goal of GFR is to optimize the handling of
frame-based traffic that passes from a LAN through a router onto an ATM back-
bone network. Such ATM networks are increasingly being used in large enterprise,
carrier, and Internet service provider networks to consolidate and extend IP ser-
vices over the wide area. While ABR is also an ATM service meant to provide a
greater measure of guaranteed packet performance over ATM backbones, ABR is
relatively difficult to implement between routers over an ATM network. With the
increased emphasis on using ATM to support IP-based traffic, especially traffic that
originates on Ethernet LANs, GFR may offer the most attractive alternative for
providing ATM service.
One of the techniques used by GFR to provide improved performance com-
pared to UBR is to require that network elements be aware of frame or packet bound-
aries. Thus, when congestion requires the discard of cells, network elements must
discard all of the cells that comprise a single frame. GFR also allows a user to reserve
capacity for each GFR VC. The user is guaranteed that this minimum capacity will be
supported. Additional frames may be transmitted if the network is not congested.
11.6 RECOMMENDED READING AND WEB SITES
[MCDY99] and [BLAC99a] provide good coverage of ATM. The virtual path/virtual channel
approach of ATM is examined in [SATO90], [SATO91], and [BURG91].
[GARR96] provides a rationale for the ATM service categories and discuss the traffic
management implications of each. [ARMI93] and [SUZU94] discuss AAL and compare
types 3/4 and 5.
ARMI93
Armitage, G., and Adams, K. “Packet Reassembly During Cell Loss.” IEEE
Network, September 1995.
BLAC99a Black, U. ATM Volume I: Foundation for Broadband Networks. Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1992.
BURG91
Burg, J., and Dorman, D. “Broadband ISDN Resource Management: The Role
of Virtual Paths.” IEEE Communications Magazine, September 1991.
GARR96
Garrett, M.“A Service Architecture for ATM: From Applications to Scheduling.”
IEEE Network, May/June 1996.
MCDY99
McDysan, D., and Spohn, D. ATM: Theory and Application. New York:
McGraw-Hill, 1999.
SATO90
Sato, K.; Ohta, S.; and Tokizawa, I. “Broad-Band ATM Network Architecture
Based on Virtual Paths.” IEEE Transactions on Communications, August 1990.
SATO91
Sato, K.; Ueda, H.; and Yoshikai, M. “The Role of Virtual Path Crossconnection.”
IEEE LTS, August 1991.
SUZU94
Suzuki, T. “ATM Adaptation Layer Protocol.” IEEE Communications
Magazine, April 1995.
11.7 / KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
349
Recommended Web sites:
• ATM Hot Links: Excellent collection of white papers and links maintained by the
University of Minnesota.
• MFA Forum: An industry forum that promotes ATM and other packet-based tech-
nologies. Contains white papers, vendor information, and links.
• Cell Relay Retreat: Contains archives of the cell-relay mailing list, links to numerous
ATM-related documents, and links to many ATM-related Web sites.
11.7 KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
Key Terms
asynchronous transfer mode
generic flow control (GFR)
real-time variable bit rate
(ATM)
guaranteed frame rate
(rt-VBR)
ATM adaptation layer
(GFR)
service data unit (SDU)
(AAL)
header error control (HEC)
unspecified bit rate (UBR)
available bit rate (ABR)
non-real-time variable bit
variable bit rate (VBR)
cell loss priority (CLP)
rate (nrt-VBR)
virtual channel
constant bit rate (CBR)
payload type
virtual path
Review Questions
11.1. How does ATM differ from frame relay?
11.2. What are the relative advantages and disadvantages of ATM compared to frame relay?
11.3. What is the difference between a virtual channel and a virtual path?
11.4. What are the advantages of the use of virtual paths?
11.5. What are the characteristics of a virtual channel connection?
11.6. What are the characteristics of a virtual path connection?
11.7. List and briefly explain the fields in an ATM cell.
11.8. Briefly explain two methods for transmitting ATM cells.
11.9. List and briefly define the ATM service categories.
Problems
11.1
List all 16 possible values of the GFC field and the interpretation of each value (some
values are illegal).
11.2
One key design decision for ATM was whether to use fixed or variable length cells.
Let us consider this decision from the point of view of efficiency. We can define trans-
mission efficiency as
Number of information octets
N =
Number of information octets + Number of overhead octets
350
CHAPTER 11 / ASYNCHRONOUS TRANSFER MODE
a. Consider the use of fixed-length packets. In this case the overhead consists of the
header octets. Define
L = Data field size of the cell in octets
H = Header size of the cell in octets
X = Number of information octets to be transmitted as a single message
Derive an expression for N. Hint: The expression will need to use the operator
where
integer greater than or equal to Y.
<Y= = the smallest
<# =,
b. If cells have variable length, then overhead is determined by the header, plus the
flags to delimit the cells or an additional length field in the header. Let
Hv =
additional overhead octets required to enable the use of variable-length cells.
Derive an expression for N in terms of X, H, and Hv.
c. Let
and
Plot N versus message size for fixed- and
L = 48, H = 5,
Hv = 2.
variable-length cells. Comment on the results.
11.3
Another key design decision for ATM is the size of the data field for fixed-size cells.
Let us consider this decision from the point of view of efficiency and delay.
a. Assume that an extended transmission takes place, so that all cells are completely
filled. Derive an expression for the efficiency N as a function of H and L.
b. Packetization delay is the delay introduced into a transmission stream by the need
to buffer bits until an entire packet is filled before transmission. Derive an expres-
sion for this delay as a function of L and the data rate R of the source.
c. Common data rates for voice coding are 32 kbps and 64 kbps. Plot packetization
delay as a function of L for these two data rates; use a left-hand y-axis with a maxi-
mum value of 2 ms. On the same graph, plot transmission efficiency as a function of
L; use a right-hand y-axis with a maximum value of 100%. Comment on the results.
11.4
Consider compressed video transmission in an ATM network. Suppose standard
ATM cells must be transmitted through five switches. The data rate is 43 Mbps.
a. What is the transmission time for one cell through one switch?
b. Each switch may be transmitting a cell from other traffic all of which we assume
to have lower (non-preemptive for the cell) priority. If the switch is busy trans-
mitting a cell, our cell has to wait until the other cell completes transmission. If
the switch is free our cell is transmitted immediately.What is the maximum time
from when a typical video cell arrives at the first switch (and possibly waits)
until it is finished being transmitted by the fifth and last one? Assume that you
can ignore propagation time, switching time, and everything else but the trans-
mission time and the time spent waiting for another cell to clear a switch.
c. Now suppose we know that each switch is utilized 60% of the time with the other low
priority traffic. By this we mean that with probability 0.6 when we look at a switch it
is busy. Suppose that if there is a cell being transmitted by a switch, the average delay
spent waiting for a cell to finish transmission is one-half a cell transmission time.
What is the average time from the input of the first switch to clearing the fifth?
d. However, the measure of most interest is not delay but jitter, which is the variabil-
ity in the delay. Use parts (b) and (c) to calculate the maximum and average vari-
ability, respectively, in the delay.
In all cases assume that the various random events are independent of one another;
for example, we ignore the burstiness typical of such traffic.
11.5
In order to support IP service over an ATM network, IP datagrams must first be seg-
mented into a number of ATM cells before sending them over the ATM network. As
ATM does not provide cell loss recovery, the loss of any of these cells will result in the
loss of the entire IP packet. Given
PC = cell loss rate in the ATM network
n = number of cells required to transmit a single IP datagram
PP = IP-packet loss rate
a. Derive an expression for PP, and comment on the resulting expression.
b. What ATM service would you use to get the best possible performance?
CHAPTER12
ROUTING IN SWITCHED NETWORKS
12.1
Routing in Packet-Switching Networks
12.2
Examples: Routing in Arpanet
12.3
Least-Cost Algorithms
12.4
Recommended Reading
12.5
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
351
352
CHAPTER 12 / ROUTING IN SWITCHED NETWORKS
“I tell you,” went on Syme with passion, “that every time a train comes in I feel that it
has broken past batteries of besiegers, and that man has won a battle against chaos.
You say contemptuously that when one has left Sloane Square one must come to Vic-
toria. I say that one might do a thousand things instead, and that whenever I really
come there I have the sense of hairbreadth escape. And when I hear the guard shout
out the word ‘Victoria’, it is not an unmeaning word. It is to me the cry of a herald
announcing conquest. It is to me indeed ‘Victoria’; it is the victory of Adam.”
—The Man Who Was Thursday, G.K. Chesterton
KEY POINTS
• A variety of routing algorithms have been developed for packet-
switching, frame relay, and ATM networks, and for the Internet and
internetworks. These algorithms share many common principles.
• Routing schemes can be categorized based on a number of factors, such
as what criterion is used to determine the best route between two
nodes, what strategy is used for obtaining information needed to deter-
mine route, and whether a distributed or centralized algorithm is used.
• The routing function attempts to find the least-cost route through the
network, with cost based on number of hops, expected delay, or other
metrics. Adaptive routing algorithms typically rely on the exchange of
information about traffic conditions among nodes.
A key design issue in switched networks, including packet-switching, frame relay,
and ATM networks, and with internets, is that of routing. In general terms, the
routing function seeks to design routes through the network for individual pairs
of communicating end nodes such that the network is used efficiently.
This chapter begins with a brief overview of issues involved in routing
design. Next, we look at the routing function in packet-switching networks and
then examine least-cost algorithms that are a central part of routing in switched
networks. These topics cover issues that are relevant to routing in internets as
well as packet-switching networks.
12.1 ROUTING IN PACKET-SWITCHING NETWORKS
One of the most complex and crucial design aspects of switched data networks is
routing. This section surveys key characteristic that can be used to classify routing
strategies. The principles described in this section are also applicable to internet-
work routing, discussed in Part Five.
12.1 / ROUTING IN PACKET-SWITCHING NETWORKS
353
Characteristics
The primary function of a packet-switching network is to accept packets from a source
station and deliver them to a destination station. To accomplish this, a path or route
through the network must be determined; generally, more than one route is possible.
Thus, a routing function must be performed. The requirements for this function
include
• Correctness
• Fairness
• Simplicity
• Optimality
• Robustness
• Efficiency
• Stability
The first two items on the list, correctness and simplicity, are self-explanatory.
Robustness has to do with the ability of the network to deliver packets via some route
in the face of localized failures and overloads. Ideally, the network can react to such con-
tingencies without the loss of packets or the breaking of virtual circuits. The designer
who seeks robustness must cope with the competing requirement for stability. Tech-
niques that react to changing conditions have an unfortunate tendency to either react
too slowly to events or to experience unstable swings from one extreme to another. For
example, the network may react to congestion in one area by shifting most of the load
to a second area. Now the second area is overloaded and the first is underutilized, caus-
ing a second shift. During these shifts, packets may travel in loops through the network.
A tradeoff also exists between fairness and optimality. Some performance cri-
teria may give higher priority to the exchange of packets between nearby stations
compared to an exchange between distant stations. This policy may maximize aver-
age throughput but will appear unfair to the station that primarily needs to commu-
nicate with distant stations.
Finally, any routing technique involves some processing overhead at each
node and often a transmission overhead as well, both of which impair network effi-
ciency. The penalty of such overhead needs to be less than the benefit accrued based
on some reasonable metric, such as increased robustness or fairness.
With these requirements in mind, we are in a position to assess the various
design elements that contribute to a routing strategy. Table 12.1 lists these elements.
Some of these categories overlap or are dependent on one another. Nevertheless, an
examination of this list serves to clarify and organize routing concepts.
Performance Criteria The selection of a route is generally based on some per-
formance criterion. The simplest criterion is to choose the minimum-hop route (one
that passes through the least number of nodes) through the network.1 This is an
easily measured criterion and should minimize the consumption of network
resources. A generalization of the minimum-hop criterion is least-cost routing. In
1The term hop is used somewhat loosely in the literature. The more common definition, which we use, is
that the number of hops along a path from a given source to a given destination is the number of links
between network nodes (packet-switching nodes, ATM switches, routers, etc.) that a packet traverses
along that path. Sometimes the number of hops is defined to include the link between the source station
and the network and the link between the destination station and the network. This latter definition pro-
duces a value two greater than the definition we use.
354
CHAPTER 12 / ROUTING IN SWITCHED NETWORKS
Table 12.1
Elements of Routing Techniques for Packet-Switching Networks
Performance Criteria
Network Information Source
Number of hops
None
Cost
Local
Delay
Adjacent node
Throughput
Nodes along route
All nodes
Decision Time
Packet (datagram)
Network Information Update Timing
Session (virtual circuit)
Continuous
Periodic
Decision Place
Major load change
Each node (distributed)
Topology change
Central node (centralized)
Originating node (source)
this case, a cost is associated with each link, and, for any pair of attached stations, the
route through the network that accumulates the least cost is sought. For example,
Figure 12.1 illustrates a network in which the two arrowed lines between a pair of
nodes represent a link between these nodes, and the corresponding numbers repre-
sent the current link cost in each direction. The shortest path (fewest hops) from
node 1 to node 6 is 1-3-6
but the least-cost path is 1-4-5-6
1cost = 5 + 5 = 102,
1cost = 1 + 1 + 2 = 42. Costs are assigned to links to support one or more design
objectives. For example, the cost could be inversely related to the data rate (i.e., the
higher the data rate on a link, the lower the assigned cost of the link) or the current
queuing delay on the link. In the first case, the least-cost route should provide the
highest throughput. In the second case, the least-cost route should minimize delay.
8
3
5
N2
N3
5
6
8
N6
2
3
2
3
2
1
3
1
2
4
N1
1
1
7
N4
N5
1
Figure 12.1
Example Network Configuration
12.1 / ROUTING IN PACKET-SWITCHING NETWORKS
355
In either the minimum-hop or least-cost approach, the algorithm for determin-
ing the optimum route for any pair of stations is relatively straightforward, and the
processing time would be about the same for either computation. Because the least-
cost criterion is more flexible, this is more common than the minimum-hop criterion.
Several least-cost routing algorithms are in common use. These are described
in Section 12.3.
Decision Time and Place Routing decisions are made on the basis of some
performance criterion. Two key characteristics of the decision are the time and place
that the decision is made.
Decision time is determined by whether the routing decision is made on a
packet or virtual circuit basis. When the internal operation of the network is data-
gram, a routing decision is made individually for each packet. For internal virtual
circuit operation, a routing decision is made at the time the virtual circuit is estab-
lished. In the simplest case, all subsequent packets using that virtual circuit follow
the same route. In more sophisticated network designs, the network may dynami-
cally change the route assigned to a particular virtual circuit in response to changing
conditions (e.g., overload or failure of a portion of the network).
The term decision place refers to which node or nodes in the network are
responsible for the routing decision. Most common is distributed routing, in which
each node has the responsibility of selecting an output link for routing packets as
they arrive. For centralized routing, the decision is made by some designated node,
such as a network control center. The danger of this latter approach is that the loss
of the network control center may block operation of the network. The distributed
approach is perhaps more complex but is also more robust. A third alternative, used
in some networks, is source routing. In this case, the routing decision is actually
made by the source station rather than by a network node and is then communi-
cated to the network. This allows the user to dictate a route through the network
that meets criteria local to that user.
The decision time and decision place are independent design variables. For
example, in Figure 12.1, suppose that the decision place is each node and that the
values depicted are the costs at a given instant in time: the costs may change. If a
packet is to be delivered from node 1 to node 6, it might follow the route 1-4-5-6,
with each leg of the route determined locally by the transmitting node. Now let the
values change such that 1-4-5-6 is no longer the optimum route. In a datagram net-
work, the next packet may follow a different route, again determined by each node
along the way. In a virtual circuit network, each node will remember the routing
decision that was made when the virtual circuit was established, and simply pass on
the packets without making a new decision.
Network Information Source and Update Timing Most routing strate-
gies require that decisions be based on knowledge of the topology of the network,
traffic load, and link cost. Surprisingly, some strategies use no such information and
yet manage to get packets through; flooding and some random strategies (discussed
later) are in this category.
With distributed routing, in which the routing decision is made by each node, the
individual node may make use of only local information, such as the cost of each out-
going link. Each node might also collect information from adjacent
(directly
356
CHAPTER 12 / ROUTING IN SWITCHED NETWORKS
connected) nodes, such as the amount of congestion experienced at that node. Finally,
there are algorithms in common use that allow the node to gain information from all
nodes on any potential route of interest. In the case of centralized routing, the central
node typically makes use of information obtained from all nodes.
A related concept is that of information update timing, which is a function of
both the information source and the routing strategy. Clearly, if no information is
used (as in flooding), there is no information to update. If only local information is
used, the update is essentially continuous. That is, an individual node always knows
its local conditions. For all other information source categories (adjacent nodes, all
nodes), update timing depends on the routing strategy. For a fixed strategy, the
information is never updated. For an adaptive strategy, information is updated from
time to time to enable the routing decision to adapt to changing conditions.
As you might expect, the more information available, and the more frequently
it is updated, the more likely the network is to make good routing decisions. On the
other hand, the transmission of that information consumes network resources.
Routing Strategies
A large number of routing strategies have evolved for dealing with the routing
requirements of packet-switching networks. Many of these strategies are also
applied to internetwork routing, which we cover in Part Five. In this section, we sur-
vey four key strategies: fixed, flooding, random, and adaptive.
Fixed Routing For fixed routing, a single, permanent route is configured for each
source-destination pair of nodes in the network. Either of the least-cost routing
algorithms described in Section 12.3 could be used. The routes are fixed, or at least
only change when there is a change in the topology of the network. Thus, the link
costs used in designing routes cannot be based on any dynamic variable such as traf-
fic. They could, however, be based on expected traffic or capacity.
Figure 12.2 suggests how fixed routing might be implemented. A central rout-
ing matrix is created, to be stored perhaps at a network control center. The matrix
shows, for each source-destination pair of nodes, the identity of the next node on the
route.
Note that it is not necessary to store the complete route for each possible
pair of nodes. Rather, it is sufficient to know, for each pair of nodes, the identity of
the first node on the route.To see this, suppose that the least-cost route from X to
Y begins with the X-A link. Call the remainder of the route
this is the part
R1;
from A to Y. Define R as the least-cost route from A to Y. Now, if the cost of R is
2
1
greater than that of
then the X-Y route can be improved by using R instead.
2
R2,
If the cost of
is less than
then
is not the least-cost route from A to Y.
R1
R2,
R2
Therefore,
Thus, at each point along a route, it is only necessary to know
R1 = R2.
the identity of the next node, not the entire route. In our example, the route from
node 1 to node 6 begins by going through node 4.Again consulting the matrix, the
route from node 4 to node 6 goes through node 5. Finally, the route from node 5 to
node 6 is a direct link to node 6.Thus, the complete route from node 1 to node 6 is
1-4-5-6.
From this overall matrix, routing tables can be developed and stored at each
node. From the reasoning in the preceding paragraph, it follows that each node need
12.1 / ROUTING IN PACKET-SWITCHING NETWORKS
357
CENTRAL ROUTING DIRECTORY
From Node
1
2
3
4
5
6
1
—
1
5
2
4
5
2
2
—
5
2
4
5
To
3
4
3
—
5
3
5
Node
4
4
4
5
—
4
5
5
4
4
5
5
—
5
6
4
4
5
5
6
—
Node 1 Directory
Node 2 Directory
Node 3 Directory
Destination Next Node
Destination Next Node
Destination Next Node
2
2
1
1
1
5
3
4
3
3
2
5
4
4
4
4
4
5
5
4
5
4
5
5
6
4
6
4
6
5
Node 4 Directory
Node 5 Directory
Node 6 Directory
Destination Next Node
Destination Next Node
Destination Next Node
1
2
1
4
1
5
2
2
2
4
2
5
3
5
3
3
3
5
5
5
4
4
4
5
6
5
6
6
5
5
Figure 12.2
Fixed Routing (using Figure 12.1)
only store a single column of the routing directory. The node’s directory shows the
next node to take for each destination.
With fixed routing, there is no difference between routing for datagrams and
virtual circuits. All packets from a given source to a given destination follow the
same route. The advantage of fixed routing is its simplicity, and it should work well
in a reliable network with a stable load. Its disadvantage is its lack of flexibility. It
does not react to network congestion or failures.
A refinement to fixed routing that would accommodate link and node outages
would be to supply the nodes with an alternate next node for each destination. For
example, the alternate next nodes in the node 1 directory might be 4, 3, 2, 3, 3.
Flooding Another simple routing technique is flooding. This technique requires
no network information whatsoever and works as follows. A packet is sent by a
source node to every one of its neighbors. At each node, an incoming packet is
retransmitted on all outgoing links except for the link on which it arrived. For exam-
ple, if node 1 in Figure 12.1 has a packet to send to node 6, it send a copy of that
packet (with a destination address of 6), to nodes 2, 3, and 4. Node 2 will send a copy
358
CHAPTER 12 / ROUTING IN SWITCHED NETWORKS
to nodes 3 and 4. Node 4 will send a copy to nodes 2, 3, and 5. And so it goes. Even-
tually, a number of copies of the packet will arrive at node 6. The packet must have
some unique identifier (e.g., source node and sequence number, or virtual circuit
number and sequence number) so that node 6 knows to discard all but the first copy.
Unless something is done to stop the incessant retransmission of packets, the
number of packets in circulation just from a single source packet grows without
bound. One way to prevent this is for each node to remember the identity of those
packets it has already retransmitted. When duplicate copies of the packet arrive,
they are discarded. A simpler technique is to include a hop count field with each
packet. The count can originally be set to some maximum value, such as the diame-
ter (length of the longest minimum-hop path through the network)2 of the network.
Each time a node passes on a packet, it decrements the count by one. When the
count reaches zero, the packet is discarded.
An example of the latter tactic is shown in Figure 12.3. The label on each
packet in the figure indicates the current value of the hop count field in that packet.
A packet is to be sent from node 1 to node 6 and is assigned a hop count of 3. On the
first hop, three copies of the packet are created, and the hop count is decrement to
2. For the second hop of all these copies, a total of nine copies are created. One of
these copies reaches node 6, which recognizes that it is the intended destination and
does not retransmit. However, the other nodes generate a total of 22 new copies for
their third and final hop. Each packet now has a hope count of 1. Note that if a node
is not keeping track of packet identifier, it may generate multiple copies at this third
stage. All packets received from the third hop are discarded, because the hop count
is exhausted. In all, node 6 has received four additional copies of the packet.
The flooding technique has three remarkable properties:
• All possible routes between source and destination are tried. Thus, no matter
what link or node outages have occurred, a packet will always get through if at
least one path between source and destination exists.
• Because all routes are tried, at least one copy of the packet to arrive at the des-
tination will have used a minimum-hop route.
• All nodes that are directly or indirectly connected to the source node are
visited.
Because of the first property, the flooding technique is highly robust and
could be used to send emergency messages. An example application is a military
network that is subject to extensive damage. Because of the second property, flood-
ing might be used initially to set up the route for a virtual circuit.The third property
suggests that flooding can be useful for the dissemination of important information
to all nodes; we will see that it is used in some schemes to disseminate routing
information.
The principal disadvantage of flooding is the high traffic load that it generates,
which is directly proportional to the connectivity of the network.
2For each pair of end systems attached to the network, there is a minimum-hop path. The length of the
longest such minimum-hop path is the diameter of the network.
12.1 / ROUTING IN PACKET-SWITCHING NETWORKS
359
2
3
6
1
4
5
(a) First hop
2
2
2
3
6
1
2
4
5
(b) Second hop
1
1
2
3
6
1
1
1
1
4
5
(c) Third hop
Figure 12.3
Flooding Example 1hop count = 32
Random Routing Random routing has the simplicity and robustness of
flooding with far less traffic load. With random routing, a node selects only
one outgoing path for retransmission of an incoming packet. The outgoing
link is chosen at random, excluding the link on which the packet arrived. If
all links are equally likely to be chosen, then a node may simply utilize out-
going links in a round-robin fashion.
360
CHAPTER 12 / ROUTING IN SWITCHED NETWORKS
A refinement of this technique is to assign a probability to each outgoing link and to
select the link based on that probability. The probability could be based on data rate,
in which case we have
Ri
P
i
=
a jRj
where
P
i
= probability of selecting link i
Ri = data rate on link i
The sum is taken over all candidate outgoing links. This scheme should pro-
vide good traffic distribution. Note that the probabilities could also be based on
fixed link costs.
Like flooding, random routing requires the use of no network information.
Because the route taken is random, the actual route will typically not be the least-
cost route nor the minimum-hop route. Thus, the network must carry a higher than
optimum traffic load, although not nearly as high as for flooding.
Adaptive Routing In virtually all packet-switching networks, some sort of adap-
tive routing technique is used. That is, the routing decisions that are made change as
conditions on the network change. The principal conditions that influence routing
decisions are
• Failure: When a node or link fails, it can no longer be used as part of a route.
• Congestion: When a particular portion of the network is heavily congested, it is
desirable to route packets around rather than through the area of congestion.
For adaptive routing to be possible, information about the state of the network
must be exchanged among the nodes. There are several drawbacks associated with
the use of adaptive routing, compared to fixed routing:
• The routing decision is more complex; therefore, the processing burden on
network nodes increases.
• In most cases, adaptive strategies depend on status information that is collected
at one place but used at another. There is a tradeoff here between the quality of
the information and the amount of overhead. The more information that is
exchanged, and the more frequently it is exchanged, the better will be the rout-
ing decisions that each node makes. On the other hand, this information is itself
a load on the constituent networks, causing a performance degradation.
• An adaptive strategy may react too quickly, causing congestion-producing
oscillation, or too slowly, being irrelevant.
Despite these real dangers, adaptive routing strategies are by far the most
prevalent, for two reasons:
• An adaptive routing strategy can improve performance, as seen by the net-
work user.
12.1 / ROUTING IN PACKET-SWITCHING NETWORKS
361
• An adaptive routing strategy can aid in congestion control, which is discussed
in Chapter 13. Because an adaptive routing strategy tends to balance loads, it
can delay the onset of severe congestion.
These benefits may or may not be realized, depending on the soundness of the
design and the nature of the load. By and large, adaptive routing is an extraordinar-
ily complex task to perform properly. As demonstration of this, most major packet-
switching networks, such as ARPANET and its successors, and many commercial
networks, have endured at least one major overhaul of their routing strategy.
A convenient way to classify adaptive routing strategies is on the basis of
information source: local, adjacent nodes, all nodes. An example of an adaptive rout-
ing strategy that relies only on local information is one in which a node routes each
packet to the outgoing link with the shortest queue length, Q. This would have the
effect of balancing the load on outgoing links. However, some outgoing links may
not be headed in the correct general direction. We can improve matters by also tak-
ing into account preferred direction, much as with random routing. In this case, each
link emanating from the node would have a bias
for each destination i, such that
Bi ,
lower values of
indicate more preferred directions. For each incoming packet
Bi
headed for node i, the node would choose the outgoing link that minimizes
Q + Bi.
Thus a node would tend to send packets in the right direction, with a concession
made to current traffic delays.
As an example, Figure 12.4 show the status of node 4 of Figure 12.1 at a certain
point in time. Node 4 has links to four other nodes. Packets have been arriving and a
backlog has built up, with a queue of packets waiting for each of the outgoing links.
A packet arrives from node 1 destined for node 6. To which outgoing link should the
packet be routed? Based on current queue lengths and the values of bias 1B62 for
To 2
To 3
To 1
Node 4's Bias
Table for
Destination 6
Next Node Bias
1
9
2
6
To 5
Node 4
3
3
5
0
Figure 12.4
Example of Isolated Adaptive Routing
362
CHAPTER 12 / ROUTING IN SWITCHED NETWORKS
each outgoing link, the minimum value of
is 4, on the link to node 3. Thus,
Q + B6
node 4 routes the packet through node 3.
Adaptive schemes based only on local information are rarely used because
they do not exploit easily available information. Strategies based on information
from adjacent nodes or all nodes are commonly found. Both take advantage of
information that each node has about delays and outages that it experiences. Such
adaptive strategies can be either distributed or centralized. In the distributed case,
each node exchanges delay information with other nodes. Based on incoming infor-
mation, a node tries to estimate the delay situation throughout the network, and
applies a least-cost routing algorithm. In the centralized case, each node reports its
link delay status to a central node, which designs routes based on this incoming
information and sends the routing information back to the nodes.
12.2
EXAMPLES: ROUTING IN ARPANET
In this section, we look at several examples of routing strategies. All of these were
initially developed for ARPANET, which is a packet-switching network that was the
foundation of the present-day Internet. It is instructive to examine these strategies
for several reasons. First, these strategies and similar ones are also used in other
packet-switching networks, including a number of networks on the Internet. Second,
routing schemes based on the ARPANET work have also been used for internet-
work routing in the Internet and in private internetworks. And finally, the
ARPANET routing scheme evolved in a way that illuminates some of the key
design issues related to routing algorithms.
First Generation
The original routing algorithm, designed in 1969, was a distributed adaptive algo-
rithm using estimated delay as the performance criterion and a version of the Bell-
man-Ford algorithm (Section 12.3). For this algorithm, each node maintains two
vectors:
di1
si1
#
#
#
U
#
Di = E
Si = E
#
# U
diN
siN
where
Di = delay vector for node i
dij
= current estimate of minimum delay from node i to node j 1dii = 02
N = number of nodes in the network
Si = successor node vector for node i
sij
= the next node in the current minimum-delay route from i to j
12.2 / EXAMPLES: ROUTING IN ARPANET
363
Desti-
Next
Desti-
Next
nation
Delay
Node
nation
Delay
Node
1
0
—
3
7
5
1
0
—
2
2
2
0
4
2
2
2
2
3
5
3
3
0
2
3
3
4
4
1
4
2
2
0
4
1
4
5
6
3
3
1
1
5
2
4
6
8
3
5
3
3
6
4
4
I1, 2
2
D
1
S1
D2
D3
D4
I1, 3
5
I1, 4
1
(a) Node 1's routing
(b) Delay vectors sent to node 1
(c) Node 1's routing table
table before update
from neighbor nodes
after update and link
costs used in update
Figure 12.5
Original ARPANET Routing Algorithm
Periodically (every 128 ms), each node exchanges its delay vector with all of its
neighbors. On the basis of all incoming delay vectors, a node k updates both of its
vectors as follows:
dkj = min
[dij
+ lki]
iH A
skj = i
using i that minimizes the preceding expression
where
A = set of neighbor nodes for k
lki
= current estimate of delay from k to i
Figure 12.5 provides an example of the original ARPANET algorithm, using the
network of Figure 12.6. This is the same network as that of Figure 12.1, with some of
the link costs having different values (and assuming the same cost in both directions).
Figure 12.5a shows the routing table for node 1 at an instant in time that reflects the
5
3
N2
N3
5
N6
2
2
9
1
2
N1
1
N4
N5
9
Figure 12.6
Network for Example of Figure 12.5a
364
CHAPTER 12 / ROUTING IN SWITCHED NETWORKS
link costs of Figure 12.6. For each destination, a delay is specified, and the next node
on the route that produces that delay. At some point, the link costs change to those of
Figure 12.1. Assume that node 1’s neighbors (nodes 2, 3, and 4) learn of the change
before node 1. Each of these nodes updates its delay vector and sends a copy to all of
its neighbors, including node 1 (Figure 12.5b). Node 1 discards its current routing table
and builds a new one, based solely on the incoming delay vector and its own estimate
of link delay to each of its neighbors. The result is shown in Figure 12.5c.
The estimated link delay is simply the queue length for that link. Thus, in build-
ing a new routing table, the node will tend to favor outgoing links with shorter queues.
This tends to balance the load on outgoing links. However, because queue lengths
vary rapidly with time, the distributed perception of the shortest route could change
while a packet is en route. This could lead to a thrashing situation in which a packet
continues to seek out areas of low congestion rather than aiming at the destination.
Second Generation
After some years of experience and several minor modifications, the original rout-
ing algorithm was replaced by a quite different one in 1979 [MCQU80]. The major
shortcomings of the old algorithm were as follows:
• The algorithm did not consider line speed, merely queue length. Thus, higher-
capacity links were not given the favored status they deserved.
• Queue length is, in any case, an artificial measure of delay, because some vari-
able amount of processing time elapses between the arrival of a packet at a
node and its placement in an outbound queue.
• The algorithm was not very accurate. In particular, it responded slowly to con-
gestion and delay increases.
The new algorithm is also a distributed adaptive one, using delay as the perfor-
mance criterion, but the differences are significant. Rather than using queue length as
a surrogate for delay, the delay is measured directly. At a node, each incoming packet
is timestamped with an arrival time. A departure time is recorded when the packet is
transmitted. If a positive acknowledgment is returned, the delay for that packet is
recorded as the departure time minus the arrival time plus transmission time and
propagation delay. The node must therefore know link data rate and propagation
time. If a negative acknowledgment comes back, the departure time is updated and
the node tries again, until a measure of successful transmission delay is obtained.
Every 10 seconds, the node computes the average delay on each outgoing link.
If there are any significant changes in delay, the information is sent to all other
nodes using flooding. Each node maintains an estimate of delay on every network
link. When new information arrives, it recomputes its routing table using Dijkstra’s
algorithm (Section 12.3).
Third Generation
Experience with this new strategy indicated that it was more responsive and stable
than the old one. The overhead induced by flooding was moderate because each
node does this at most once every 10 seconds. However, as the load on the network
12.2 / EXAMPLES: ROUTING IN ARPANET
365
A
B
Figure 12.7
Packet-Switching Network Subject to Oscillations
grew, a shortcoming in the new strategy began to appear, and the strategy was
revised in 1987 [KHAN89].
The problem with the second strategy is the assumption that the measured
packet delay on a link is a good predictor of the link delay encountered after all
nodes reroute their traffic based on this reported delay. Thus, it is an effective rout-
ing mechanism only if there is some correlation between the reported values and
those actually experienced after rerouting. This correlation tends to be rather high
under light and moderate traffic loads. However, under heavy loads, there is little
correlation. Therefore, immediately after all nodes have made routing updates, the
routing tables are obsolete!
As an example, consider a network that consists of two regions with only two
links, A and B, connecting the two regions (Figure 12.7). Each route between two
nodes in different regions must pass through one of these links. Assume that a situ-
ation develops in which most of the traffic is on link A. This will cause the link delay
on A to be significant, and at the next opportunity, this delay value will be reported
to all other nodes. These updates will arrive at all nodes at about the same time, and
all will update their routing tables immediately. It is likely that this new delay value
for link A will be high enough to make link B the preferred choice for most, if not
all, interregion routes. Because all nodes adjust their routes at the same time, most
or all interregion traffic shifts at the same time to link B. Now the link delay value
on B will become high, and there will be a subsequent shift to link A. This oscillation
will continue until the traffic volume subsides.
There are a number of reasons why this oscillation is undesirable:
• A significant portion of available capacity is unused at just the time when it is
needed most: under heavy traffic load.
366
CHAPTER 12 / ROUTING IN SWITCHED NETWORKS
• The overutilization of some links can lead to the spread of congestion within
the network (this will be seen in the discussion of congestion in Chapter 13).
• The large swings in measured delay values result in the need for more fre-
quent routing update messages. This increases the load on the network at just
the time when the network is already stressed.
The ARPANET designers concluded that the essence of the problem was that
every node was trying to obtain the best route for all destinations, and that these efforts
conflicted. It was concluded that under heavy loads, the goal of routing should be to
give the average route a good path instead of attempting to give all routes the best path.
The designers decided that it was unnecessary to change the overall routing
algorithm. Rather, it was sufficient to change the function that calculates link costs.
This was done in such a way as to damp routing oscillations and reduce routing
overhead. The calculation begins with measuring the average delay over the last
10 seconds. This value is then transformed with the following steps:
1.
Using a simple single-server queuing model, the measured delay is trans-
formed into an estimate of link utilization. From queuing theory, utilization
can be expressed as a function of delay as follows:
21T
s
- T2
r =
T
s
- 2T
where
r = link utilization
T = measured delay
T
s
= service time
The service time was set at the network-wide average packet size (600 bits)
divided by the data rate of the link.
2.
The result is then smoothed by averaging it with the previous estimate of utilization:
U1n + 12 = 0.5 * r1n + 12 + 0.5 * U1n2
where
U1n2 = average utilization calculated at sampling time n
r1n2 = link utilization measured at sampling time n
Averaging increases the period of routing oscillations, thus reducing routing
overhead.
3.
The link cost is then set as a function of average utilization that is designed to
provide a reasonable estimate of cost while avoiding oscillation. Figure 12.8
indicates the way in which the estimate of utilization is converted into a cost
value. The final cost value is, in effect, a transformed value of delay.
In Figure 12.8, delay is normalized to the value achieved on an idle line, which is
just propagation delay plus transmission time. One curve on the figure indicates the
way in which the actual delay rises as a function of utilization; the increase in delay is
due to queuing delay at the node. For the revised algorithm, the cost value is kept at
12.3 / LEAST-COST ALGORITHMS
367
5
Theoretical
queueing delay
4
3
Metric for
satellite link
2
Metric for
1
terrestrial link
0
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
Estimated utilization
Figure 12.8
ARPANET Delay Metrics
the minimum value until a given level of utilization is reached. This feature has the
effect of reducing routing overhead at low traffic levels. Above a certain level of uti-
lization, the cost level is allowed to rise to a maximum value that is equal to three
times the minimum value. The effect of this maximum value is to dictate that traffic
should not be routed around a heavily utilized line by more than two additional hops.
Note that the minimum threshold is set higher for satellite links. This encour-
ages the use of terrestrial links under conditions of light traffic, because the terres-
trial links have much lower propagation delay. Note also that the actual delay curve
is much steeper than the transformation curves at high utilization levels. It is this
steep rise in link cost that causes all of the traffic on a link to be shed, which in turn
causes routing oscillations.
In summary, the revised cost function is keyed to utilization rather than delay.
The function acts similar to a delay-based metric under light loads and to a capacity-
based metric under heavy loads.
12.3
LEAST-COST ALGORITHMS
Virtually all packet-switching networks and all internets base their routing decision
on some form of least-cost criterion. If the criterion is to minimize the number of
hops, each link has a value of 1. More typically, the link value is inversely propor-
tional to the link capacity, proportional to the current load on the link, or some com-
bination. In any case, these link or hop costs are used as input to a least-cost routing
algorithm, which can be simply stated as follows:
Given a network of nodes connected by bidirectional links, where each
link has a cost associated with it in each direction, define the cost of a path
368
CHAPTER 12 / ROUTING IN SWITCHED NETWORKS
between two nodes as the sum of the costs of the links traversed. For each
pair of nodes, find a path with the least cost.
Note that the cost of a link may differ in its two directions. This would be true,
for example, if the cost of a link equaled the length of the queue of packets awaiting
transmission from each of the two nodes on the link.
Most least-cost routing algorithms in use in packet-switching networks and
internets are variations of one of two common algorithms, known as Dijkstra’s algo-
rithm and the Bellman-Ford algorithm. This section provides a summary of these
two algorithms.
Dijkstra’s Algorithm
Dijkstra’s algorithm [DIJK59] can be stated as: Find the shortest paths from a
given source node to all other nodes by developing the paths in order of increas-
ing path length. The algorithm proceeds in stages. By the kth stage, the shortest
paths to the k nodes closest to (least cost away from) the source node have been
determined; these nodes are in a set T. At stage
the node not in T that has
1k + 12,
the shortest path from the source node is added to T. As each node is added to T,
its path from the source is defined. The algorithm can be formally described as
follows. Define:
N set of nodes in the network
s
source node
T set of nodes so far incorporated by the algorithm
w(i, j)
rom cost from node i to node j; w(i, i)
0; w(i, j)
if the two nodes are
not directly connected; w(i, j)
0 if the two nodes are directly connected
L(n) cost of the least-cost path from node s to node n that is currently known
to the algorithm; at termination, this is the cost of the least-cost path in
the graph from s to n
The algorithm has three steps; steps 2 and 3 are repeated until
That is,
T = N.
steps 2 and 3 are repeated until final paths have been assigned to all nodes in the
network:
1.
[Initialization]
T = 5s6
i.e., the set of nodes so far incorporated consists
of only the source node
for
i.e., the initial path costs to neighboring nodes are
L(n) = w(s, n)
n Z s
simply the link costs
2.
[Get Next Node] Find the neighboring node not in T that has the least-cost path
from node s and incorporate that node into T: Also incorporate the edge that is
incident on that node and a node in T that contributes to the path. This can be
expressed as
Find x x T such that L(x) = min L(j)
jxT
12.3 / LEAST-COST ALGORITHMS
369
Add x to T; add to T the edge that is incident on x and that contributes the least
cost component to L(x), that is, the last hop in the path.
3.
[Update Least-Cost Paths]
L(n) = min[L(n), L(x) + w(x, n)] for all n x T
If the latter term is the minimum, the path from s to n is now the path from s to
x concatenated with the edge from x to n.
The algorithm terminates when all nodes have been added to T. At termina-
tion, the value L(x) associated with each node x is the cost (length) of the least-cost
path from s to x. In addition, T defines the least-cost path from s to each other node.
One iteration of steps 2 and 3 adds one new node to T and defines the least-
cost path from s to that node. That path passes only through nodes that are in T. To
see this, consider the following line of reasoning. After k iterations, there are k nodes
in T, and the least-cost path from s to each of these nodes has been defined. Now
consider all possible paths from s to nodes not in T. Among those paths, there is one
of least cost that passes exclusively through nodes in T (see Problem 12.4), ending
with a direct link from some node in T to a node not in T. This node is added to T
and the associated path is defined as the least-cost path for that node.
Table 12.2a and Figure 12.9 show the result of applying this algorithm to the
graph of Figure 12.1, using
s = 1.
The shaded edges define the spanning tree for the
graph. The values in each circle are the current estimates of L(x) for each node x. A
Table 12.2
Example of Least-Cost Routing Algorithms (using Figure 12.1)
(a) Dijkstra’a Algorithm
1s = 12
Iteration
T
L(2) Path
L(3) Path
L(4) Path
L(5) Path
L(6) Path
1
516
2
1-2
5
1-3
1
1-4
q
—
q
—
2
51, 46
2
1-2
4
1-4-3
1
1-4
2
1-4-5
q
—
3
51, 2, 46
2
1-2
4
1-4-3
1
1-4
2
1-4-5
q
—
4
51, 2, 4, 56
2
1-2
3
1-4-5-3
1
1-4
2
1-4-5
4
1-4-5-6
5
51, 2, 3, 4, 56
2
1-2
3
1-4-5-3
1
1-4
2
1-4-5
4
1-4-5-6
6
51, 2, 3, 4, 5, 66
2
1-2
3
1-4-5-3
1
1-4
2
1-4-5
4
1-4-5-6
(b) Bellman-Ford Algorithm
1s = 12
h
Lh122
Path
L
h
132
Path
L
h
142
Path
L
h
152
Path
Lh162
Path
0
q
—
q
—
q
—
q
—
q
—
1
2
1-2
5
1-3
1
1-4
q
—
q
—
2
2
1-2
4
1-4-3
1
1-4
2
1-4-5
10
1- 3-6
3
2
1-2
3
1-4-5-3
1
1-4
2
1-4-5
4
1-4-5-6
4
2
1-2
3
1-4-5-3
1
1-4
2
1-4-5
4
1-4-5-6
370
CHAPTER 12 / ROUTING IN SWITCHED NETWORKS
8
8
V2
V3
V2
V3
5
3
5
3
2
5
5
2
4
5
6
6
8
V6
8
V6
2
2
3
3
2
2
2
3
1
2
3
1
1
2
1
2
3
3
4
4
0
1
0
1
V1
V1
1
1
7
1
7
1
2
1
1
V4
V5
V4
V5
T
{1}
T
{1, 4}
8
8
V2
V3
V2
V3
5
3
3
5
2
4
5
2
3
5
6
6
8
V6
8
V6
2
2
4
3
2
3
2
2
3
1
2
3
1
3
1
2
3
1
2
4
4
0
1
0
1
V1
V1
1
1
7
1
2
7
1
2
1
1
V4
V5
V4
V5
T
{1, 2, 4}
T
{1, 2, 4, 5}
8
8
V2
V3
V2
V3
5
3
5
3
2
3
5
2
3
5
6
6
8
V6
8
V6
2
4
2
4
3
2
3
3
2
3
2
1
2
1
3
1
2
3
1
2
4
4
0
1
0
1
V1
V1
1
1
7
1
2
7
1
2
1
1
V4
V5
V4
V5
T
{1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
T
{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}
Figure 12.9
Dijkstra’s Algorithm Applied to Graph of Figure 12.1
node is shaded when it is added to T. Note that at each step the path to each node
plus the total cost of that path is generated. After the final iteration, the least-cost
path to each node and the cost of that path have been developed. The same proce-
dure can be used with node 2 as source node, and so on.
Bellman-Ford Algorithm
The Bellman-Ford algorithm [FORD62] can be stated as follows: Find the shortest
paths from a given source node subject to the constraint that the paths contain at
most one link, then find the shortest paths with a constraint of paths of at most two
12.3 / LEAST-COST ALGORITHMS
371
links, and so on. This algorithm also proceeds in stages. The algorithm can be for-
mally described as follows. Define
s
source node
w(i, j)
link cost from node i to node j; w(i, i) = 0; w(i, j)
if the two nodes are
not directly connected;
if the two nodes are directly connected
w1i, j2 Ú 0
h maximum number of links in a path at the current stage of the algorithm
Lh(n) cost of the least-cost path from node s to node n under the constraint of no
more than h links
1.
[Initialization]
L01n2 = q, for all n Z s
Lh1s2 = 0, for all h
2.
[Update]
For each successive
h Ú 0:
For each
n Z s,
compute
Lh+11n2 = min[Lh1j2 + w1j, n2]
j
Connect n with the predecessor node j that achieves the minimum, and elimi-
nate any connection of n with a different predecessor node formed during an
earlier iteration. The path from s to n terminates with the link from j to n.
For the iteration of step 2 with
and for each destination node n, the
h = K,
algorithm compares potential paths from s to n of length
with the path that
K + 1
existed at the end of the previous iteration. If the previous, shorter, path has less
cost, then that path is retained. Otherwise a new path with length
is defined
K + 1
from s to n; this path consists of a path of length K from s to some node j, plus a
direct hop from node j to node n. In this case, the path from s to j that is used is the
K-hop path for j defined in the previous iteration (see Problem 12.5).
Table 12.2b and Figure 12.10 show the result of applying this algorithm to
Figure 12.1, using
At each step, the least-cost paths with a maximum number
s = 1.
of links equal to h are found. After the final iteration, the least-cost path to each
node and the cost of that path have been developed. The same procedure can be
used with node 2 as source node, and so on. Note that the results agree with those
obtained using Dijkstra’s algorithm.
Comparison
One interesting comparison can be made between these two algorithms, having to
do with what information needs to be gathered. Consider first the Bellman-Ford
algorithm. In step 2, the calculation for node n involves knowledge of the link cost to
all neighboring nodes to node n [i.e., w(j, n)] plus the total path cost to each of those
neighboring nodes from a particular source node s [i.e.,
]. Each node can main-
Lh1j2
tain a set of costs and associated paths for every other node in the network and
exchange this information with its direct neighbors from time to time. Each node
can therefore use the expression in step 2 of the Bellman-Ford algorithm, based
only on information from its neighbors and knowledge of its link costs, to update its
372
CHAPTER 12 / ROUTING IN SWITCHED NETWORKS
8
8
V2
V3
V2
V3
3
3
5
5
5
2
5
5
2
4
6
6
8
V6
8
V6
2
2
10
3
2
3
3
2
3
2
1
2
1
3
1
2
3
1
2
4
4
0
1
0
1
V1
V1
1
1
7
1
7
1
2
1
1
V4
V
5
V4
V
5
h
1
h
2
8
8
V2
V3
V2
V3
5
3
5
3
2
3
5
2
3
5
6
6
8
V6
8
V6
2
4
2
4
3
2
3
3
2
3
2
1
2
1
3
1
2
3
1
2
4
4
0
1
0
1
V1
V1
1
1
7
1
2
7
1
2
1
1
V4
V
5
V4
V5
h
3
h
4
Figure 12.10
Bellman-Ford Algorithm Applied to Graph of Figure 12.1
costs and paths. On the other hand, consider Dijkstra’s algorithm. Step 3 appears to
require that each node must have complete topological information about the net-
work. That is, each node must know the link costs of all links in the network. Thus,
for this algorithm, information must be exchanged with all other nodes.
In general, evaluation of the relative merits of the two algorithms should con-
sider the processing time of the algorithms and the amount of information that must
be collected from other nodes in the network or internet. The evaluation will
depend on the implementation approach and the specific implementation.
A final point: Both algorithms are known to converge under static conditions
of topology, and link costs and will converge to the same solution. If the link costs
change over time, the algorithm will attempt to catch up with these changes. How-
ever, if the link cost depends on traffic, which in turn depends on the routes chosen,
then a feedback condition exists, and instabilities may result.
12.4 RECOMMENDED READING
[MAXE90] is a useful survey of routing algorithms. Another survey, with numerous examples,
is [SCHW80].
[CORM01] contains a detailed analysis of the least-cost algorithms discussed in this
chapter. [BERT92] also discusses these algorithms in detail.
12.5 / KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
373
BERT92
Bertsekas, D., and Gallager, R. Data Networks. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice
Hall, 1992.
CORM01
Cormen, T., et al. Introduction to Algorithms. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2001.
MAXE90
Maxemchuk, N., and Zarki, M. “Routing and Flow Control in High-Speed
Wide-Area Networks.” Proceedings of the IEEE, January 1990.
SCHW80
Schwartz, M., and Stern, T. “Routing Techniques Used in Computer Commu-
nication Networks.” IEEE Transactions on Communications, April 1980.
12.5 KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
Key Terms
adaptive routing
Dijkstra’s algorithm
least-cost algorithms
alternate routing
fixed routing
random routing
Bellman-Ford algorithm
flooding
Review Questions
12.1. What are the key requirements for a routing function for a packet-switching
network?
12.2. What is fixed routing?
12.3. What is flooding?
12.4. What are the advantages and disadvantages of adaptive routing?
12.5. What is a least-cost algorithm?
12.6. What is the essential difference between Dijkstra’s algorithm and the Bellman-Ford
algorithm?
Problems
12.1
Consider a packet-switching network of N nodes, connected by the following
topologies:
a. Star: one central node with no attached station; all other nodes attach to the cen-
tral node.
b. Loop: each node connects to two other nodes to form a closed loop.
c. Fully connected: each node is directly connected to all other nodes.
For each case, give the average number of hops between stations.
12.2
Consider a binary tree topology for a packet-switching network. The root node con-
nects to two other nodes. All intermediate nodes connect to one node in the direction
toward the root, and two in the direction away from the root. At the bottom are nodes
with just one link back toward the root. If there are
nodes, derive an expres-
2N - 1
sion for the mean number of hops per packet for large N, assuming that trips between
all node pairs are equally likely. Hint: You will find the following equalities useful:
q
X q
X
Xi =
iXi =
a
i=1
1 - X;a
i=1
11 - X22
374
CHAPTER 12 / ROUTING IN SWITCHED NETWORKS
12.3
Dijkstra’s algorithm, for finding the least-cost path from a specified node s to a speci-
fied node t, can be expressed in the following program:
for n :
1 to N do
begin
L[n] :
; final[n] :
false; {all nodes are temporarily labeled with
} pred[n] :
1
end;
L[s] :
0; final[s] : true;
{node s is permanently labeled with 0}
recent : s;
{the most recent node to be permanently labeled is s}
path := true;
{initialization over }
while final[t] = false do
begin
for n :
1 to N do
{find new label}
if (w[recent, n] <
) AND (NOT final[n]) then
{for every immediate successor of recent that is not permanently labeled, do }
begin {update temporary labels}
newlabel : L[recent] w[recent,n];
if newlabel L[n] then
begin L[n] : newlabel; pred[n] : recent end
{re-label n if there is a shorter path via node recent and make
recent the predecessor of n on the shortest path from s}
end;
temp :
;
for x :
1 to N do {find node with smallest temporary label}
if (NOT final[x]) AND (L[x] temp) then
begin y : x; temp : L[x] end;
if temp < 8 then {there is a path} then
begin final[y] : true; recent : y end
{y, the next closest node to s gets permanently labeled}
else begin path : false; final[t] : true end
end
In this program, each node is assigned a temporary label initially. As a final path to a
node is determined, it is assigned a permanent label equal to the cost of the path from
s. Write a similar program for the Bellman-Ford algorithm. Hint: The Bellman-Ford
algorithm is often called a label-correcting method, in contrast to Dijkstra’s label-
setting method.
12.4
In the discussion of Dijkstra’s algorithm in Section 12.3, it is asserted that at each iter-
ation, a new node is added to T and that the least-cost path for that new node passes
only through nodes already in T. Demonstrate that this is true. Hint: Begin at the
beginning. Show that the first node added to T must have a direct link to the source
node. Then show that the second node to T must either have a direct link to the
source node or a direct link to the first node added to T, and so on. Remember that all
link costs are assumed nonnegative.
12.5
In the discussion of the Bellman-Ford algorithm, it is asserted that at the iteration for
which
h = K,
if any path of length
K + 1
is defined, the first K hops of that path
form a path defined in the previous iteration. Demonstrate that this is true.
12.6
In step 3 of Dijkstra’s algorithm, the least-cost path values are only updated for nodes
not yet in T. Is it possible that a lower-cost path could be found to a node already in
T? If so, demonstrate by example. If not, provide reasoning as to why not.
12.7
Using Dijkstra’s algorithm, generate a least-cost route to all other nodes for nodes 2
through 6 of Figure 12.1. Display the results as in Table 12.2a.
12.8
Repeat Problem 12.7 using the Bellman-Ford algorithm.
12.5 / KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
375
12.9
Apply Dijkstra’s routing algorithm to the networks in Figure 12.11. Provide a table
similar to Table 12.2a and a figure similar to Figure 12.9.
12.10
Repeat Problem 12.9 using the Bellman-Ford algorithm.
12.11
Will Dijkstra’s algorithm and the Bellman-Ford algorithm always yield the same solu-
tions? Why or why not?
12.12
Both Dijkstra’s algorithm and the Bellman-Ford algorithm find the least-cost paths
from one node to all other nodes. The Floyd-Warshall algorithm finds the least-cost
paths between all pairs of nodes together. Define
N set of nodes in the network
w(i, j) link cost from node i to node j; w(i, i)
0; w(i, j)
if the two nodes are
not directly connected
Ln(i, j) cost of the least-cost path from node i to node j with the constraint that
only nodes 1, 2, . . . , n can be used as intermediate nodes on paths
The algorithm has the following steps:
1.
Initialize:
L01i, j2 = w1i, j2, for all i, j, i Z j
2.
For
n = 0, 1, Á , N - 1
Ln+11i, j2 = min[Ln1i, j2, Ln1i, n + 12 + Ln1n + 1, j2] for all i Z j
Explain the algorithm in words. Use induction to demonstrate that the algorithm
works.
B
C
3
2
F
1
1
1
4
A
4
1
D
E
(a)
E
1
A
1
1
B
5
G
1
1
1
D
F
2
3
C
1
1
H
J
1
4
K
(b)
Figure 12.11
Packet-Switching Networks with Link Costs
376
CHAPTER 12 / ROUTING IN SWITCHED NETWORKS
12.13
In Figure 12.3, node 1 sends a packet to node 6 using flooding. Counting the transmis-
sion of one packet across one link as a load of one, what is the total load generated if
a. Each node discards duplicate incoming packets?
b. A hop count field is used and is initially set to 5, and no duplicate is discarded?
12.14
It was shown that flooding can be used to determine the minimum-hop route. Can it
be used to determine the minimum delay route?
12.15
With random routing, only one copy of the packet is in existence at a time. Neverthe-
less, it would be wise to utilize a hop count field. Why?
12.16
Another adaptive routing scheme is known as backward learning. As a packet is
routed through the network, it carries not only the destination address, but the source
address plus a running hop count that is incremented for each hop. Each node builds
a routing table that gives the next node and hop count for each destination. How is
the packet information used to build the table? What are the advantages and disad-
vantages of this technique?
12.17
Build a centralized routing directory for the networks of Figure 12.11.
12.18
Consider a system using flooding with a hop counter. Suppose that the hop counter is
originally set to the ”diameter” of the network. When the hop count reaches zero, the
packet is discarded except at its destination. Does this always ensure that a packet
will reach its destination if there exists at least one operable path? Why or why not?
CHAPTER
13
CONGESTION CONTROL IN DATA
NETWORKS
13.1
Effects of Congestion
13.2
Congestion Control
13.3
Traffic Management
13.4
Congestion Control In Packet-Switching Networks
13.5
Frame Relay Congestion Control
13.6
ATM Traffic Management
13.7
ATM-GFR Traffic Management
13.8
Recommended Reading
13.9
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
377
378
CHAPTER 13 / CONGESTION CONTROL IN DATA NETWORKS
At St. Paul’s a great throng crammed the platform. She saw a sea of faces, each
stamped with a kind of purposeful, hungry urgency, a determination to get into this
train. As before, when she was on the Northern Line, she thought there must be some
rule, some operating law, that would stop more than a limited, controlled number get-
ting in. Authority would appear and stop it.
—King Solomon’s Carpet, Barbara Vine (Ruth Rendell)
KEY POINTS
•
Congestion occurs when the number of packets being transmitted
through a network begins to approach the packet-handling capacity
of the network. The objective of congestion control is to maintain the
number of packets within the network below the level at which per-
formance falls off dramatically.
•
The lack of flow control mechanisms built into the ATM and frame
relay protocols makes congestion control difficult. A variety of tech-
niques have been developed to cope with congestion and to give dif-
ferent quality-of-service guarantees to different types of traffic.
•
ATM networks establish a traffic contract with each user that speci-
fies the characteristics of the expected traffic and the type of service
that the network will provide. The network implements congestion
control techniques in such a way as to protect the network from con-
gestion while meeting the traffic contracts.
•
An ATM network monitors the cell flow from each incoming source and
may discard or label for potential discard cells that exceed the agreed
traffic contract. In addition, the network may shape the traffic coming
from users by temporarily buffering cells to smooth out traffic flows.
A key design issue that must be confronted both with data networks, such as
packet-switching, frame relay, and ATM networks, and also with internets, is that
of congestion control. The phenomenon of congestion is a complex one, as is
the subject of congestion control. In very general terms, congestion occurs
when the number of packets1 being transmitted through a network begins
to approach the packet-handling capacity of the network. The objective of
congestion control is to maintain the number of packets within the network
below the level at which performance falls off dramatically.
To understand the issues involved in congestion control, we need to
look at some results from queuing theory.2 In essence, a data network or
1In this chapter we use the term packet in a broad sense, to include packets in a packet-switching
network, frames in a frame relay network, cells in an ATM network, or IP datagrams in an internet.
2Appendix I provides an overview of queuing analysis.
13.1 / EFFECTS OF CONGESTION
379
internet is a network of queues.At each node (data network switch, internet
router), there is a queue of packets for each outgoing channel. If the rate at
which packets arrive and queue up exceeds the rate at which packets can be
transmitted, the queue size grows without bound and the delay experienced
by a packet goes to infinity. Even if the packet arrival rate is less than the
packet transmission rate, queue length will grow dramatically as the arrival
rate approaches the transmission rate. As a rule of thumb, when the line for
which packets are queuing becomes more than 80% utilized, the queue
length grows at an alarming rate.This growth in queue length means that the
delay experienced by a packet at each node increases. Further, since the size
of any queue is finite, as queue length grows, eventually the queue must
overflow.
This chapter focuses on congestion control in switched data networks,
including packet-switching, frame relay, and ATM networks. The principles
examined here are also applicable to internetworks. In Part Five, we look at addi-
tional congestion control mechanisms in our discussion of internetwork opera-
tion and TCP congestion control.
13.1
EFFECTS OF CONGESTION
Consider the queuing situation at a single packet switch or router, such as is
illustrated in Figure 13.1.Any given node has a number of I/O ports3 attached to
it: one or more to other nodes, and zero or more to end systems. On each port,
packets arrive and depart.We can consider that there are two buffers, or queues,
at each port, one to accept arriving packets, and one to hold packets that are
waiting to depart. In practice, there might be two fixed-size buffers associated
with each port, or there might be a pool of memory available for all buffering
activities. In the latter case, we can think of each port having two variable-size
buffers associated with it, subject to the constraint that the sum of all buffer
sizes is a constant.
In any case, as packets arrive, they are stored in the input buffer of the corre-
sponding port. The node examines each incoming packet, makes a routing decision,
and then moves the packet to the appropriate output buffer. Packets queued for
output are transmitted as rapidly as possible; this is, in effect, statistical time division
multiplexing. If packets arrive too fast for the node to process them (make routing
decisions) or faster than packets can be cleared from the outgoing buffers, then
eventually packets will arrive for which no memory is available.
When such a saturation point is reached, one of two general strategies can be
adopted. The first such strategy is to discard any incoming packet for which there is
no available buffer space. The alternative is for the node that is experiencing these
problems to exercise some sort of flow control over its neighbors so that the traffic
flow remains manageable. But, as Figure 13.2 illustrates, each of a node’s neighbors
3In the case of a switch of a packet-switching, frame relay, or ATM network, each I/O port connects to a
transmission link that connects to another node or end system. In the case of a router of an internet, each
I/O port connects to either a direct link to another node or to a subnetwork.
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CHAPTER 13 / CONGESTION CONTROL IN DATA NETWORKS
To other
node
To subscriber
To other
node
To other
Input buffer
node
Output buffer
To subscriber
Figure 13.1
Input and Output Queues at Node
is also managing a number of queues. If node 6 restrains the flow of packets from
node 5, this causes the output buffer in node 5 for the port to node 6 to fill up. Thus,
congestion at one point in the network can quickly propagate throughout a region
or the entire network. While flow control is indeed a powerful tool, we need to use it
in such a way as to manage the traffic on the entire network.
2
3
6
1
4
5
Output queue
Input queue
Figure 13.2
Interaction of Queues in a Data Network
13.1 / EFFECTS OF CONGESTION
381
Ideal Performance
Figure 13.3 suggests the ideal goal for network utilization. The top graph plots the
steady-state total throughput (number of packets delivered to destination end systems)
through the network as a function of the offered load (number of packets transmitted
by source end systems), both normalized to the maximum theoretical throughput of
the network. For example, if a network consists of a single node with two full-duplex
1-Mbps links, then the theoretical capacity of the network is 2 Mbps, consisting of a
1-Mbps flow in each direction. In the ideal case, the throughput of the network increases
to accommodate load up to an offered load equal to the full capacity of the network;
then normalized throughput remains at 1.0 at higher input loads. Note, however, what
happens to the end-to-end delay experienced by the average packet even with this
assumption of ideal performance. At negligible load, there is some small constant
amount of delay that consists of the propagation delay through the network from
source to destination plus processing delay at each node. As the load on the network
increases, queuing delays at each node are added to this fixed amount of delay. When
the load exceeds the network capacity, delays increase without bound.
Here is a simple intuitive explanation of why delay must go to infinity. Sup-
pose that each node in the network is equipped with buffers of infinite size and
suppose that the input load exceeds network capacity. Under ideal conditions, the
1.0
0.5
0.0
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
Normalized load
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
Normalized load
Figure 13.3
Ideal Network Utilization
382
CHAPTER 13 / CONGESTION CONTROL IN DATA NETWORKS
network will continue to sustain a normalized throughput of 1.0. Therefore, the rate
of packets leaving the network is 1.0. Because the rate of packets entering the net-
work is greater than 1.0, internal queue sizes grow. In the steady state, with input
greater than output, these queue sizes grow without bound and therefore queuing
delays grow without bound.
It is important to grasp the meaning of Figure 13.3 before looking at real-world
conditions. This figure represents the ideal, but unattainable, goal of all traffic and con-
gestion control schemes. No scheme can exceed the performance depicted in Figure 13.3.
Practical Performance
The ideal case reflected in Figure 13.3 assumes infinite buffers and no overhead
related to congestion control. In practice, buffers are finite, leading to buffer over-
flow, and attempts to control congestion consume network capacity in the exchange
of control signals.
Let us consider what happens in a network with finite buffers if no attempt is
made to control congestion or to restrain input from end systems. The details will, of
course, differ depending on network configuration and on the statistics of the pre-
sented traffic. However, the graphs in Figure 13.4 depict the devastating outcome in
general terms.
At light loads, throughput and hence network utilization increases as the offered
load increases. As the load continues to increase, a point is reached (point A in the
plot) beyond which the throughput of the network increases at a rate slower than the
rate at which offered load is increased. This is due to network entry into a moder-
ate congestion state. In this region, the network continues to cope with the load,
although with increased delays. The departure of throughput from the ideal is
accounted for by a number of factors. For one thing, the load is unlikely to be spread
uniformly throughout the network. Therefore, while some nodes may experience
moderate congestion, others may be experiencing severe congestion and may need to
discard traffic. In addition, as the load increases, the network will attempt to balance
the load by routing packets through areas of lower congestion. For the routing function
to work, an increased number of routing messages must be exchanged between nodes
to alert each other to areas of congestion; this overhead reduces the capacity available
for data packets.
As the load on the network continues to increase, the queue lengths of the
various nodes continue to grow. Eventually, a point is reached (point B in the plot)
beyond which throughput actually drops with increased offered load. The reason
for this is that the buffers at each node are of finite size. When the buffers at a
node become full, the node must discard packets. Thus, the sources must retrans-
mit the discarded packets in addition to new packets. This only exacerbates the
situation: As more and more packets are retransmitted, the load on the system
grows, and more buffers become saturated.While the system is trying desperately
to clear the backlog, users are pumping old and new packets into the system.
Even successfully delivered packets may be retransmitted because it takes too
long, at a higher layer (e.g., transport layer), to acknowledge them: The sender
assumes the packet did not get through and retransmits. Under these circum-
stances, the effective capacity of the system declines to zero.
13.2 / CONGESTION CONTROL
383
Moderate
No congestion
congestion
Severe congestion
B
A
Load
Average delay
for all packets
Average delay
for packets that
are delivered
Load
Figure 13.4
The Effects of Congestion
13.2 CONGESTION CONTROL
In this book, we discuss various techniques for controlling congestion in packet-
switching, frame relay, and ATM networks, and in IP-based internets. To give context
to this discussion, Figure 13.5 provides a general depiction of important congestion
control techniques.
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CHAPTER 13 / CONGESTION CONTROL IN DATA NETWORKS
Implicit
(delay, discard)
Policing
Backpressure
Choke packet
Source
Destination
Explicit
(binary, credit, rate)
Figure 13.5
Mechanisms for Congestion Control
Backpressure
We have already made reference to backpressure as a technique for congestion con-
trol. This technique produces an effect similar to backpressure in fluids flowing
down a pipe. When the end of a pipe is closed (or restricted), the fluid pressure
backs up the pipe to the point of origin, where the flow is stopped (or slowed).
Backpressure can be exerted on the basis of links or logical connections (e.g.,
virtual circuits). Referring again to Figure 13.2, if node 6 becomes congested
(buffers fill up), then node 6 can slow down or halt the flow of all packets from node
5 (or node 3, or both nodes 5 and 3). If this restriction persists, node 5 will need to
slow down or halt traffic on its incoming links. This flow restriction propagates back-
ward (against the flow of data traffic) to sources, which are restricted in the flow of
new packets into the network.
Backpressure can be selectively applied to logical connections, so that the flow
from one node to the next is only restricted or halted on some connections, gener-
ally the ones with the most traffic. In this case, the restriction propagates back along
the connection to the source.
Backpressure is of limited utility. It can be used in a connection-oriented net-
work that allows hop-by-hop (from one node to the next) flow control. X.25-based
packet-switching networks typically provide this feature. However, neither frame
relay nor ATM has any capability for restricting flow on a hop-by-hop basis. In the
case of IP-based internets, there have traditionally been no built-in facilities for reg-
ulating the flow of data from one router to the next along a path through the inter-
net. Recently, some flow-based schemes have been developed; this topic is
introduced in Part Five.
Choke Packet
A choke packet is a control packet generated at a congested node and transmitted
back to a source node to restrict traffic flow. An example of a choke packet is the
ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) Source Quench packet. Either a router
or a destination end system may send this message to a source end system, request-
ing that it reduce the rate at which it is sending traffic to the internet destination. On
13.2 / CONGESTION CONTROL
385
receipt of a source quench message, the source host should cut back the rate at
which it is sending traffic to the specified destination until it no longer receives
source quench messages. The source quench message can be used by a router or host
that must discard IP datagrams because of a full buffer. In that case, the router or
host will issue a source quench message for every datagram that it discards. In addi-
tion, a system may anticipate congestion and issue source quench messages when its
buffers approach capacity. In that case, the datagram referred to in the source
quench message may well be delivered. Thus, receipt of a source quench message
does not imply delivery or nondelivery of the corresponding datagram.
The choke package is a relatively crude technique for controlling congestion.
More sophisticated forms of explicit congestion signaling are discussed subsequently.
Implicit Congestion Signaling
When network congestion occurs, two things may happen: (1) The transmission
delay for an individual packet from source to destination increases, so that it is
noticeably longer than the fixed propagation delay, and (2) packets are discarded. If
a source is able to detect increased delays and packet discards, then it has implicit
evidence of network congestion. If all sources can detect congestion and, in
response, reduce flow on the basis of congestion, then the network congestion will
be relieved. Thus, congestion control on the basis of implicit signaling is the respon-
sibility of end systems and does not require action on the part of network nodes.
Implicit signaling is an effective congestion control technique in connectionless,
or datagram, configurations, such as datagram packet-switching networks and IP-
based internets. In such cases, there are no logical connections through the internet
on which flow can be regulated. However, between the two end systems, logical con-
nections can be established at the TCP level. TCP includes mechanisms for acknowl-
edging receipt of TCP segments and for regulating the flow of data between source
and destination on a TCP connection. TCP congestion control techniques based on
the ability to detect increased delay and segment loss are discussed in Chapter 20.
Implicit signaling can also be used in connection-oriented networks. For exam-
ple, in frame relay networks, the LAPF control protocol, which is end to end,
includes facilities similar to those of TCP for flow and error control. LAPF control
is capable of detecting lost frames and adjusting the flow of data accordingly.
Explicit Congestion Signaling
It is desirable to use as much of the available capacity in a network as possible but
still react to congestion in a controlled and fair manner. This is the purpose of
explicit congestion avoidance techniques. In general terms, for explicit congestion
avoidance, the network alerts end systems to growing congestion within the network
and the end systems take steps to reduce the offered load to the network.
Typically, explicit congestion control techniques operate over connection-ori-
ented networks and control the flow of packets over individual connections. Explicit
congestion signaling approaches can work in one of two directions:
• Backward: Notifies the source that congestion avoidance procedures should be
initiated where applicable for traffic in the opposite direction of the received
notification. It indicates that the packets that the user transmits on this logical
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CHAPTER 13 / CONGESTION CONTROL IN DATA NETWORKS
connection may encounter congested resources. Backward information is trans-
mitted either by altering bits in a header of a data packet headed for the source
to be controlled or by transmitting separate control packets to the source.
•
Forward: Notifies the user that congestion avoidance procedures should be initi-
ated where applicable for traffic in the same direction as the received notifica-
tion. It indicates that this packet, on this logical connection, has encountered
congested resources.Again, this information may be transmitted either as altered
bits in data packets or in separate control packets. In some schemes, when a for-
ward signal is received by an end system, it echoes the signal back along the logi-
cal connection to the source. In other schemes, the end system is expected to
exercise flow control upon the source end system at a higher layer (e.g., TCP).
We can divide explicit congestion signaling approaches into three general
categories:
•
Binary: A bit is set in a data packet as it is forwarded by the congested node.
When a source receives a binary indication of congestion on a logical connec-
tion, it may reduce its traffic flow.
•
Credit based: These schemes are based on providing an explicit credit to a
source over a logical connection. The credit indicates how many octets or how
many packets the source may transmit. When the credit is exhausted, the source
must await additional credit before sending additional data. Credit-based
schemes are common for end-to-end flow control, in which a destination sys-
tem uses credit to prevent the source from overflowing the destination buffers,
but credit-based schemes have also been considered for congestion control.
•
Rate based: These schemes are based on providing an explicit data rate limit
to the source over a logical connection. The source may transmit data at a rate
up to the set limit. To control congestion, any node along the path of the con-
nection can reduce the data rate limit in a control message to the source.
13.3 TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT
There are a number of issues related to congestion control that might be included
under the general category of traffic management. In its simplest form, congestion
control is concerned with efficient use of a network at high load. The various mech-
anisms discussed in the previous section can be applied as the situation arises, with-
out regard to the particular source or destination affected. When a node is saturated
and must discard packets, it can apply some simple rule, such as discard the most
recent arrival. However, other considerations can be used to refine the application
of congestion control techniques and discard policy. We briefly introduce several of
those areas here.
Fairness
As congestion develops, flows of packets between sources and destinations will experi-
ence increased delays and, with high congestion, packet losses. In the absence of other
requirements, we would like to assure that the various flows suffer from congestion
13.4 / CONGESTION CONTROL IN POCKET-SWITCHING NETWORKS
387
equally. Simply to discard on a last-in-first-discarded basis may not be fair.As an exam-
ple of a technique that might promote fairness, a node can maintain a separate queue
for each logical connection or for each source-destination pair. If all of the queue
buffers are of equal length, then the queues with the highest traffic load will suffer dis-
cards more often, allowing lower-traffic connections a fair share of the capacity.
Quality of Service
We might wish to treat different traffic flows differently. For example, as [JAIN92]
points out, some applications, such as voice and video, are delay sensitive but loss
insensitive. Others, such as file transfer and electronic mail, are delay insensitive but
loss sensitive. Still others, such as interactive graphics or interactive computing
applications, are delay sensitive and loss sensitive. Also, different traffic flows have
different priorities; for example, network management traffic, particularly during
times of congestion or failure, is more important than application traffic.
It is particularly important during periods of congestion that traffic flows with
different requirements be treated differently and provided a different quality of ser-
vice (QoS). For example, a node might transmit higher-priority packets ahead of
lower-priority packets in the same queue. Or a node might maintain different
queues for different QoS levels and give preferential treatment to the higher levels.
Reservations
One way to avoid congestion and also to provide assured service to applications is
to use a reservation scheme. Such a scheme is an integral part of ATM networks.
When a logical connection is established, the network and the user enter into a traf-
fic contract, which specifies a data rate and other characteristics of the traffic flow.
The network agrees to give a defined QoS so long as the traffic flow is within con-
tract parameters; excess traffic is either discarded or handled on a best-effort basis,
subject to discard. If the current outstanding reservations are such that the network
resources are inadequate to meet the new reservation, then the new reservation is
denied. A similar type of scheme has now been developed for IP-based internets
(RSVP, which is discussed in Chapter 19).
One aspect of a reservation scheme is traffic policing (Figure 13.5). A node in
the network, typically the node to which the end system attaches, monitors the traf-
fic flow and compares it to the traffic contract. Excess traffic is either discarded or
marked to indicate that it is liable to discard or delay.
13.4
CONGESTION CONTROL IN PACKET-SWITCHING
NETWORKS
A number of control mechanisms for congestion control in packet-switching net-
works have been suggested and tried. The following are examples:
1. Send a control packet from a congested node to some or all source nodes. This
choke packet will have the effect of stopping or slowing the rate of transmission
from sources and hence limit the total number of packets in the network. This
approach requires additional traffic on the network during a period of congestion.
388
CHAPTER 13 / CONGESTION CONTROL IN DATA NETWORKS
2. Rely on routing information. Routing algorithms, such as ARPANET’s, provide
link delay information to other nodes, which influences routing decisions. This
information could also be used to influence the rate at which new packets are
produced. Because these delays are being influenced by the routing decision,
they may vary too rapidly to be used effectively for congestion control.
3. Make use of an end-to-end probe packet. Such a packet could be timestamped to
measure the delay between two particular endpoints. This has the disadvantage
of adding overhead to the network.
4. Allow packet-switching nodes to add congestion information to packets as
they go by. There are two possible approaches here. A node could add such
information to packets going in the direction opposite of the congestion. This
information quickly reaches the source node, which can reduce the flow of
packets into the network. Alternatively, a node could add such information to
packets going in the same direction as the congestion. The destination either
asks the source to adjust the load or returns the signal back to the source in the
packets (or acknowledgments) going in the reverse direction.
13.5
FRAME RELAY CONGESTION CONTROL
I.370 defines the objectives for frame relay congestion control to be the following:
• Minimize frame discard.
• Maintain, with high probability and minimum variance, an agreed quality of
service.
• Minimize the possibility that one end user can monopolize network resources
at the expense of other end users.
• Be simple to implement, and place little overhead on either end user or network.
• Create minimal additional network traffic.
• Distribute network resources fairly among end users.
• Limit spread of congestion to other networks and elements within the network.
• Operate effectively regardless of the traffic flow in either direction between
end users.
• Have minimum interaction or impact on other systems in the frame relaying
network.
• Minimize the variance in quality of service delivered to individual frame relay
connections during congestion (e.g., individual logical connections should not
experience sudden degradation when congestion approaches or has occurred).
Congestion control is difficult for a frame relay network because of the limited
tools available to the frame handlers (frame-switching nodes). The frame relay pro-
tocol has been streamlined to maximize throughput and efficiency. A consequence
of this is that a frame handler cannot control the flow of frames coming from a sub-
scriber or an adjacent frame handler using the typical sliding-window flow control
protocol, such as is found in HDLC.
13.5 / FRAME RELAY CONGESTION CONTROL
389
Table 13.1
Frame Relay Congestion Control Techniques
Technique
Type
Function
Key Elements
Discard control
Discard
Provides guidance to
DE bit
strategy
network concerning
which frames to discard
Backward explicit
Congestion
Provides guidance to
BECN bit or CLLM
Congestion Notification
avoidance
end systems about
message
congestion in network
Forward explicit
Congestion
Provides guidance to
FECN bit
Congestion Notification
avoidance
end systems about
congestion in network
Implicit congestion
Congestion
End system infers
Sequence numbers
notification
recovery
congestion from
in higher-layer PDU
frame loss
Congestion control is the joint responsibility of the network and the end users.
The network (i.e., the collection of frame handlers) is in the best position to monitor
the degree of congestion, while the end users are in the best position to control con-
gestion by limiting the flow of traffic.
Table 13.1 lists the congestion control techniques defined in the various ITU-T
and ANSI documents. Discard strategy deals with the most fundamental response
to congestion: When congestion becomes severe enough, the network is forced to
discard frames. We would like to do this in a way that is fair to all users.
Congestion avoidance procedures are used at the onset of congestion to mini-
mize the effect on the network. Thus, these procedures would be initiated at or prior
to point A in Figure 13.4, to prevent congestion from progressing to point B. Near
point A, there would be little evidence available to end users that congestion is
increasing. Thus, there must be some explicit signaling mechanism from the network
that will trigger the congestion avoidance.
Congestion recovery procedures are used to prevent network collapse in the
face of severe congestion. These procedures are typically initiated when the network
has begun to drop frames due to congestion. Such dropped frames will be reported
by some higher layer of software (e.g., LAPF control protocol or TCP) and serve as
an implicit signaling mechanism. Congestion recovery procedures operate around
point B and within the region of severe congestion, as shown in Figure 13.4.
ITU-T and ANSI consider congestion avoidance with explicit signaling and
congestion recovery with implicit signaling to be complementary forms of conges-
tion control in the frame relaying bearer service.
Traffic Rate Management
As a last resort, a frame-relaying network must discard frames to cope with conges-
tion. There is no getting around this fact. Because each frame handler in the network
has finite memory available for queuing frames (Figure 13.2), it is possible for a
390
CHAPTER 13 / CONGESTION CONTROL IN DATA NETWORKS
queue to overflow, necessitating the discard of either the most recently arrived
frame or some other frame.
The simplest way to cope with congestion is for the frame-relaying network to
discard frames arbitrarily, with no regard to the source of a particular frame. In that
case, because there is no reward for restraint, the best strategy for any individual
end system is to transmit frames as rapidly as possible. This, of course, exacerbates
the congestion problem.
To provide for a fairer allocation of resources, the frame relay bearer service
includes the concept of a committed information rate (CIR). This is a rate, in bits
per second, that the network agrees to support for a particular frame-mode con-
nection.Any data transmitted in excess of the CIR are vulnerable to discard in the
event of congestion. Despite the use of the term committed, there is no guarantee
that even the CIR will be met. In cases of extreme congestion, the network may be
forced to provide a service at less than the CIR for a given connection. However,
when it comes time to discard frames, the network will choose to discard frames on
connections that are exceeding their CIR before discarding frames that are within
their CIR.
In theory, each frame-relaying node should manage its affairs so that
the aggregate of CIRs of all the connections of all the end systems attached to the
node does not exceed the capacity of the node. In addition, the aggregate of the
CIRs should not exceed the physical data rate across the user-network interface,
known as the access rate. The limitation imposed by access rate can be expressed
as follows:
AccessRatej
(13.1)
aCIRi,j …
i
where
CIRi,j = Committed information rate for connection i on channel j
AccessRatej = Data rate of user access channel j; a channel is a fixed-
data-rate TDM channel between the user and the network
Considerations of node capacity may result in the selection of lower values for some
of the CIRs.
For permanent frame relay connections, the CIR for each connection must be
established at the time the connection is agreed between user and network. For
switched connections, the CIR parameter is negotiated; this is done in the setup
phase of the call control protocol.
The CIR provides a way of discriminating among frames in determining
which frames to discard in the face of congestion. Discrimination is indicated by
means of the discard eligibility (DE) bit in the LAPF frame (Figure 10.16). The
frame handler to which the user’s station attaches performs a metering function
(Figure 13.6). If the user is sending data at less than the CIR, the incoming frame
handler does not alter the DE bit. If the rate exceeds the CIR, the incoming frame
handler will set the DE bit on the excess frames and then forward them; such
frames may get through or may be discarded if congestion is encountered. Finally, a
maximum rate is defined, such that any frames above the maximum are discarded
at the entry frame handler.
13.5 / FRAME RELAY CONGESTION CONTROL
391
Commited
information
Current
Maximum
rate (CIR)
rate
rate
Transmit if
possible
Discard
Guaranteed
all excess
transmission
Access
0
rate
Figure 13.6
Operation of the CIR
The CIR, by itself, does not provide much flexibility in dealing with traffic rates.
In practice, a frame handler measures traffic over each logical connection for a time
interval specific to that connection and then makes a decision based on the amount
of data received during that interval. Two additional parameters, assigned on perma-
nent connections and negotiated on switched connections, are needed. They are
• Committed burst size
The maximum amount data that the network
1Bc2:
agrees to transfer, under normal conditions, over a measurement interval T.
These data may or may not be contiguous (i.e., they may appear in one frame
or in several frames).
• Excess burst size
The maximum amount of data in excess of B that the
c
1Be2:
network will attempt to transfer, under normal conditions, over a measurement
interval T. These data are uncommitted in the sense that the network does not
commit to delivery under normal conditions. Put another way, the data that
represent B are delivered with lower probability than the data within
Bc .
e
The quantities B and CIR are related. Because B is the amount of committed
c
c
data that may be transmitted by the user over a time T, and CIR is the rate at which
committed data may be transmitted, we must have
Bc
T =
(13.2)
CIR
Figure 13.7, based on a figure in ITU-T Recommendation I.370, illustrates the
relationship among these parameters. On each graph, the solid line plots the cumu-
lative number of information bits transferred over a given connection since time
The dashed line labeled Access Rate represents the data rate over the chan-
T = 0.
nel containing this connection. The dashed line labeled CIR represents the commit-
ted information rate over the measurement interval T. Note that when a frame is
being transmitted, the solid line is parallel to the Access Rate line; when a frame is
transmitted on a channel, that channel is dedicated to the transmission of that
frame. When no frame is being transmitted, the solid line is horizontal.
Figure 13.7a shows an example in which three frames are transmitted within the
measurement interval and the total number of bits in the three frames is less than
Bc. Note that during the transmission of the first frame, the actual transmission rate
392
CHAPTER 13 / CONGESTION CONTROL IN DATA NETWORKS
Number of
Number of
bits transmitted
bits transmitted
Discard region
Discard region
Bc Be
Bc Be
DE
1 region
DE
1 region
Bc
Bc
DE
0 region
DE
0 region
Time
Time
Frame 1
Frame 2
Frame 3
0
T
0
Frame 1 Frame 2
Frame 3 Frame 4
T
DE
0
DE
0
DE
0
DE
0
DE
0
DE
0 DE
1
(a) All frames within CIR
(b) One frame marked DE
Number of
bits transmitted
Discard region
Bc Be
DE
1 region
Bc
DE
0 region
Time
0
Frame 1
Frame 2 Frame 3 Frame 4
DE
0
DE
0
DE
1 discarded
(c) One frame marked DE; one frame discarded
Figure 13.7
Illustration of Relationships among Congestion Parameters
temporarily exceeds the CIR. This is of no consequence because the frame handler is
only concerned with the cumulative number of bits transmitted over the entire interval.
In Figure 13.7b, the last frame transmitted during the interval causes the cumulative
number of bits transmitted to exceed
Accordingly, the DE bit of that frame is set
Bc .
by the frame handler. In Figure 13.7c, the third frame exceeds B cand so is labeled for
potential discard. The fourth frame exceeds B
and is discarded.
c
+ Be
13.5 / FRAME RELAY CONGESTION CONTROL
393
Congestion Avoidance with Explicit Signaling
It is desirable to use as much of the available capacity in a frame relay network as
possible but still react to congestion in a controlled and fair manner. This is the pur-
pose of explicit congestion avoidance techniques. In general terms, for explicit con-
gestion avoidance, the network alerts end systems to growing congestion within the
network and the end systems take steps to reduce the offered load to the network.
As the standards for explicit congestion avoidance were being developed, two
general strategies were considered [BERG91]. One group believed that congestion
always occurred slowly and almost always in the network egress nodes. Another
group had seen cases in which congestion grew very quickly in the internal nodes
and required quick decisive action to prevent network congestion. We will see that
these two approaches are reflected in the forward and backward explicit congestion
avoidance techniques, respectively.
For explicit signaling, two bits in the address field of each frame are provided.
Either bit may be set by any frame handler that detects congestion. If a frame han-
dler receives a frame in which one or both of these bits are set, it must not clear the
bits before forwarding the frame. Thus, the bits constitute signals from the network
to the end user. The two bits are
• Backward explicit congestion notification (BECN): Notifies the user that con-
gestion avoidance procedures should be initiated where applicable for traffic in
the opposite direction of the received frame. It indicates that the frames that the
user transmits on this logical connection may encounter congested resources.
• Forward explicit congestion notification (FECN): Notifies the user that con-
gestion avoidance procedures should be initiated where applicable for traffic
in the same direction as the received frame. It indicates that this frame, on this
logical connection, has encountered congested resources.
Let us consider how these bits are used by the network and the user. First, for
the network response, it is necessary for each frame handler to monitor its queuing
behavior. If queue lengths begin to grow to a dangerous level, then either FECN or
BECN bits or a combination should be set to try to reduce the flow of frames
through that frame handler. The choice of FECN or BECN may be determined by
whether the end users on a given logical connection are prepared to respond to one
or the other of these bits. This may be determined at configuration time. In any case,
the frame handler has some choice as to which logical connections should be alerted
to congestion. If congestion is becoming quite serious, all logical connections through
a frame handler might be notified. In the early stages of congestion, the frame han-
dler might just notify users for those connections that are generating the most traffic.
The user response is determined by the receipt of BECN or FECN signals. The
simplest procedure is the response to a BECN signal: The user simply reduces the
rate at which frames are transmitted until the signal ceases. The response to an
FECN is more complex, as it requires the user to notify its peer user of this connec-
tion to restrict its flow of frames. The core functions used in the frame relay protocol
do not support this notification; therefore, it must be done at a higher layer, such as
the transport layer. The flow control could also be accomplished by the LAPF con-
trol protocol or some other link control protocol implemented above the frame
394
CHAPTER 13 / CONGESTION CONTROL IN DATA NETWORKS
relay sublayer. The LAPF control protocol is particularly useful because it includes
an enhancement to LAPD that permits the user to adjust window size.
13.6
ATM TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT
Because of their high speed and small cell size, ATM networks present difficulties in
effectively controlling congestion not found in other types of data networks. The
complexity of the problem is compounded by the limited number of overhead bits
available for exerting control over the flow of user cells. This area is currently the
subject of intense research, and approaches to traffic and congestion control are still
evolving. ITU-T has defined a restricted initial set of traffic and congestion control
capabilities aiming at simple mechanisms and realistic network efficiency; these are
specified in I.371. The ATM Forum has published a somewhat more advanced ver-
sion of this set in its Traffic Management Specification 4.0. This section focuses on
the ATM Forum specifications.
We begin with an overview of the congestion problem and the framework
adopted by ITU-T and the ATM Forum. We then discuss some of the specific tech-
niques that have been developed for traffic management and congestion control.
Requirements for ATM Traffic and Congestion Control
Both the types of traffic patterns imposed on ATM networks and the transmission
characteristics of those networks differ markedly from those of other switching net-
works. Most packet-switching and frame relay networks carry non-real-time data
traffic. Typically, the traffic on individual virtual circuits or frame relay connections
is bursty in nature, and the receiving system expects to receive incoming traffic on
each connection in a bursty fashion. As a result,
• The network does not need to replicate the exact timing pattern of incoming
traffic at the re exit node.
• Therefore, simple statistical multiplexing can be used to accommodate multi-
ple logical connections over the physical interface between user and network.
The average data rate required by each connection is less than the burst rate
for that connection, and the user-network interface (UNI) need only be
designed for a capacity somewhat greater than the sum of the average data
rates for all connections.
A number of tools are available for control of congestion in packet-switched
and frame relay networks, some of which are discussed elsewhere in this chapter.
These types of congestion control schemes are inadequate for ATM networks.
[GERS91] cites the following reasons:
• The majority of traffic is not amenable to flow control. For example, voice and
video traffic sources cannot stop generating cells even when the network is
congested.
• Feedback is slow due to the drastically reduced cell transmission time com-
pared to propagation delays across the network.
13.6 / ATM TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT
395
• ATM networks typically support a wide range of applications requiring capac-
ity ranging from a few kbps to several hundred Mbps. Relatively simple-
minded congestion control schemes generally end up penalizing one end or
the other of that spectrum.
• Applications on ATM networks may generate very different traffic patterns
(e.g., constant bit rate versus variable bit rate sources). Again, it is difficult for
conventional congestion control techniques to handle fairly such variety.
• Different applications on ATM networks require different network services
(e.g., delay-sensitive service for voice and video, and loss-sensitive service
for data).
• The very high speeds in switching and transmission make ATM networks
more volatile in terms of congestion and traffic control. A scheme that relies
heavily on reacting to changing conditions will produce extreme and wasteful
fluctuations in routing policy and flow control.
Two key performance issues that relate to the preceding points are latency/speed
effects and cell delay variation, topics to which we now turn.
Latency/Speed Effects
Consider the transfer of ATM cells over a network at a data rate of 150 Mbps. At
that rate, it takes
seconds to insert a
153 * 8 bits2/1150 * 106 bps2 L 2.8 * 10-6
single cell onto the network. The time it takes to transfer the cell from the source to
the destination user will depend on the number of intermediate ATM switches, the
switching time at each switch, and the propagation time along all links in the path
from source to destination. For simplicity, ignore ATM switching delays and assume
propagation at the two-thirds the speed of light. Then, if source and destination are
on opposite coasts of the United States, the round-trip propagation delay is about
48 * 10-3 seconds.
With these conditions in place, suppose that source A is performing a long file
transfer to destination B and that implicit congestion control is being used (i.e.,
there are no explicit congestion notifications; the source deduces the presence of
congestion by the loss of data). If the network drops a cell due to congestion, B can
return a reject message to A, which must then retransmit the dropped cell and pos-
sibly all subsequent cells. But by the time the notification gets back to A, it has trans-
mitted an additional N cells, where
48 * 10-3 seconds
N =
= 1.7 * 104 cells = 7.2 * 106 bits
2.8 * 10-6 seconds/cell
Over 7 megabits have been transmitted before A can react to the congestion
indication.
This calculation helps to explain why the techniques that are satisfactory for
more traditional networks break down when dealing with ATM WANs.
Cell Delay Variation
For an ATM network, voice and video signals can be digitized and transmitted as
a stream of cells. A key requirement, especially for voice, is that the delay across
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CHAPTER 13 / CONGESTION CONTROL IN DATA NETWORKS
the network be short. Generally, this will be the case for ATM networks. As we
have discussed, ATM is designed to minimize the processing and transmission
overhead internal to the network so that very fast cell switching and routing is
possible.
There is another important requirement that to some extent conflicts with the
preceding requirement, namely that the rate of delivery of cells to the destination
user must be constant. It is inevitable that there will be some variability in the rate of
delivery of cells due both to effects within the network and at the source UNI; we
summarize these effects presently. First, let us consider how the destination user
might cope with variations in the delay of cells as they transit from source user to
destination user.
A general procedure for achieving a constant bit rate (CBR) is illustrated in
Figure 13.8. Let D(i) represent the end-to-end delay experienced by the ith cell. The
destination system does not know the exact amount of this delay: there is no time-
stamp information associated with each cell and, even if there were, it is impossible to
keep source and destination clocks perfectly synchronized. When the first cell on a
connection arrives at time
the target user delays the cell an additional amount
t0,
V(0) prior to delivery to the application. V(0) is an estimate of the amount of cell
delay variation that this application can tolerate and that is likely to be produced by
the network.
Subsequent cells are delayed so that they are delivered to the user at a con-
stant rate of R cells per second. The time between delivery of cells to the target
application (time between the start of delivery of one cell and the start of delivery of
the next cell) is therefore
d = 1/R.
To achieve a constant rate, the next cell is
delayed a variable amount V(1) to satisfy
D cell
insertion
time
t0
t1
t2
t3t4
Time
D(0)
V(0)
D(1)
V(1)
Cell arrives
late; discarded
D(2)
V(2)
D(3)
D(4)
Slope R cells/s
1/D
V(4)
Figure 13.8
Time Reassembly of CBR Cells
13.6 / ATM TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT
397
t1
+ V112 = t0 + V102 + d
So
V112 = V102 - [t1 - 1t0 + d2]
In general,
V1i2 = V102 - [ti - 1t0 + i * d2]
which can also be expressed as
V1i2 = V1i - 12 - [ti - 1ti-1 + d2]
If the computed value of V(i) is negative, then that cell is discarded. The result is that
data is delivered to the higher layer at a constant bit rate, with occasional gaps due
to dropped cells.
The amount of the initial delay V(0), which is also the average delay applied to
all incoming cells, is a function of the anticipated cell delay variation. To minimize
this delay, a subscriber will therefore request a minimal cell delay variation from the
network provider. This leads to a tradeoff: Cell delay variation can be reduced by
increasing the data rate at the UNI relative to the load and by increasing resources
within the network.
Network Contribution to Cell Delay Variation One component of cell
delay variation is due to events within the network. For packet-switching networks,
packet delay variation can be considerable due to queuing effects at each of the
intermediate switching nodes and the processing time required to analyze packet
headers and perform routing. To a much lesser extent, this is also true of frame delay
variation in frame relay networks. In the case of ATM networks, cell delay variations
due to network effects are likely to be even less than for frame relay. The principal
reasons for this are the following:
• The ATM protocol is designed to minimize processing overhead at intermedi-
ate switching nodes. The cells are fixed size with fixed header formats, and
there is no flow control or error control processing required.
• To accommodate the high speeds of ATM networks, ATM switches have had
to be designed to provide extremely high throughput. Thus, the processing
time for an individual cell at a node is negligible.
The only factor that could lead to noticeable cell delay variation within the
network is congestion. If the network begins to become congested, either cells must
be discarded or there will be a buildup of queuing delays at affected switches. Thus,
it is important that the total load accepted by the network at any time not be such as
to cause congestion.
Cell Delay Variation at the UNI Even if an application generates data for
transmission at a constant bit rate, cell delay variation can occur at the source due to
the processing that takes place at the three layers of the ATM model.
Figure 13.9 illustrates the potential causes of cell delay variation. In this exam-
ple, ATM connections A and B support user data rates of X and Y Mbps, respectively
1X 7 Y2. At the AAL level, data are segmented into 48-octet blocks. Note that on a
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CHAPTER 13 / CONGESTION CONTROL IN DATA NETWORKS
Time
48 octets, X Mbps
(Connection A, X Mbps)
48 octets, Y Mbps
AAL
(Connection B, Y Mbps)
ATM layer SAP
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
ATM layer
OAM F5
H
OAM F4
Physical layer SAP
Physical
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
layer
Physical layer
overhead
Figure 13.9
Origins of Cell Delay Variation (I.371)
time diagram, the blocks appear to be of different sizes for the two connections;
specifically, the time required to generate a 48-octet block of data, in microseconds, is
48 * 8
Connection A:
X
48 * 8
Connection B:
Y
The ATM layer encapsulates each segment into a 53-octet cell. These cells must
be interleaved and delivered to the physical layer to be transmitted at the data rate of
the physical link. Delay is introduced into this interleaving process: If two cells from
different connections arrive at the ATM layer at overlapping times, one of the cells
must be delayed by the amount of the overlap. In addition, the ATM layer is generating
OAM (operation and maintenance) cells that must also be interleaved with user cells.
At the physical layer, there is opportunity for the introduction of further cell
delays. For example, if cells are transmitted in SDH (synchronous digital hierarchy)
frames, overhead bits for those frames will be inserted onto the physical link, delay-
ing bits from the ATM layer.
None of the delays just listed can be predicted in any detail, and none follow
any repetitive pattern. Accordingly, there is a random element to the time interval
between reception of data at the ATM layer from the AAL and the transmission of
that data in a cell across the UNI.
13.6 / ATM TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT
399
Traffic and Congestion Control Framework
I.371 lists the following objectives of ATM layer traffic and congestion control:
• ATM layer traffic and congestion control should support a set of ATM layer
QoS classes sufficient for all foreseeable network services; the specification of
these QoS classes should be consistent with network performance parameters
currently under study.
• ATM layer traffic and congestion control should not rely on AAL protocols
that are network service specific, nor on higher-layer protocols that are appli-
cation specific. Protocol layers above the ATM layer may make use of infor-
mation provided by the ATM layer to improve the utility those protocols can
derive from the network.
• The design of an optimum set of ATM layer traffic controls and congestion
controls should minimize network and end-system complexity while maximiz-
ing network utilization.
To meet these objectives, ITU-T and the ATM Forum have defined a collec-
tion of traffic and congestion control functions that operate across a spectrum of
timing intervals. Table 13.2 lists these functions with respect to the response times
within which they operate. Four levels of timing are considered:
• Cell insertion time: Functions at this level react immediately to cells as they
are transmitted.
• Round-trip propagation time: At this level, the network responds within the life-
time of a cell in the network and may provide feedback indications to the source.
• Connection duration: At this level, the network determines whether a new
connection at a given QoS can be accommodated and what performance lev-
els will be agreed to.
• Long term: These are controls that affect more than one ATM connection and
are established for long-term use.
The essence of the traffic control strategy is based on (1) determining whether a
given new ATM connection can be accommodated and (2) agreeing with the subscriber
Table 13.2
Traffic Control and Congestion Control Functions
Response Time
Traffic Control Functions
Congestion Control Functions
Long Term
• Resource management
using virtual paths
Connection Duration
• Connection admission
control (CAC)
Round-Trip
• Fast resource management
• Explicit forward congestion
Propagation Time
indication (EFCI)
• ABR flow control
Cell Insertion Time
• Usage parameter control
• Selective cell discard
(UPC)
• Priority control
• Traffic shaping
400
CHAPTER 13 / CONGESTION CONTROL IN DATA NETWORKS
on the performance parameters that will be supported. In effect, the subscriber and the
network enter into a traffic contract: the network agrees to support traffic at a certain
level of performance on this connection, and the subscriber agrees not to exceed traffic
parameter limits. Traffic control functions are concerned with establishing these traffic
parameters and enforcing them.Thus, they are concerned with congestion avoidance. If
traffic control fails in certain instances, then congestion may occur. At this point, con-
gestion control functions are invoked to respond to and recover from the congestion.
Traffic Management and Congestion Control Techniques
ITU-T and the ATM Forum have defined a range of traffic management functions
to maintain the quality of service (QoS) of ATM connections. ATM traffic manage-
ment function refers to the set of actions taken by the network to avoid congestion
conditions or to minimize congestion effects. In this subsection, we highlight the fol-
lowing techniques:
• Resource management using virtual paths
• Connection admission control
• Usage parameter control
• Selective cell discard
• Traffic shaping
Resource Management Using Virtual Paths The essential concept behind
network resource management is to allocate network resources in such a way as to
separate traffic flows according to service characteristics. So far, the only specific
traffic control function based on network resource management defined by the
ATM Forum deals with the use of virtual paths.
As discussed in Chapter 11, a virtual path connection (VPC) provides a conve-
nient means of grouping similar virtual channel connections (VCCs). The network
provides aggregate capacity and performance characteristics on the virtual path,
and these are shared by the virtual connections. There are three cases to consider:
• User-to-user application: The VPC extends between a pair of UNIs. In this
case the network has no knowledge of the QoS of the individual VCCs within
a VPC. It is the user’s responsibility to assure that the aggregate demand from
the VCCs can be accommodated by the VPC.
• User-to-network application: The VPC extends between a UNI and a network
node. In this case, the network is aware of the QoS of the VCCs within the
VPC and has to accommodate them.
• Network-to-network application: The VPC extends between two network
nodes. Again, in this case, the network is aware of the QoS of the VCCs within
the VPC and has to accommodate them.
The QoS parameters that are of primary concern for network resource manage-
ment are cell loss ratio, cell transfer delay, and cell delay variation, all of which are
affected by the amount of resources devoted to the VPC by the network. If a VCC
extends through multiple VPCs, then the performance on that VCC depends on the
performances of the consecutive VPCs and on how the connection is handled at any
13.6 / ATM TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT
401
VC-Sw
1
VPC b
VPC c
2
VCCs
VP-Sw
VP-Sw
VP-Sw
3
VPC a
4
5
VPC
Virtual path connection
VCC
Virtual channel connection
VP-Sw
Virtual path switching function
VC-Sw
Virtual channel switching function
Figure 13.10
Configuration of VCCs and VPCs
node that performs VCC-related functions. Such a node may be a switch, concentrator,
or other network equipment.The performance of each VPC depends on the capacity of
that VPC and the traffic characteristics of the VCCs contained within the VPC. The
performance of each VCC-related function depends on the switching/processing speed
at the node and on the relative priority with which various cells are handled.
Figure 13.10 gives an example. VCCs 1 and 2 experience a performance that
depends on VPCs b and c and on how these VCCs are handled by the intermediate
nodes. This may differ from the performance experienced by VCCs 3, 4, and 5.
There are a number of alternatives for the way in which VCCs are grouped
and the type of performance they experience. If all of the VCCs within a VPC are
handled similarly, then they should experience similar expected network perfor-
mance, in terms of cell loss ratio, cell transfer delay, and cell delay variation. Alter-
natively, when different VCCs within the same VPC require different QoS, the VPC
performance objective agreed by network and subscriber should be set suitably for
the most demanding VCC requirement.
In either case, with multiple VCCs within the same VPC, the network has two
general options for allocating capacity to the VPC:
• Aggregate peak demand: The network may set the capacity (data rate) of the
VPC equal to the total of the peak data rates of all of the VCCs within the
VPC. The advantage of this approach is that each VCC can be given a QoS
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CHAPTER 13 / CONGESTION CONTROL IN DATA NETWORKS
that accommodates its peak demand. The disadvantage is that most of the
time, the VPC capacity will not be fully utilized and therefore the network will
have underutilized resources.
• Statistical multiplexing: If the network sets the capacity of the VPC to be
greater than or equal to the average data rates of all the VCCs but less than
the aggregate peak demand, then a statistical multiplexing service is supplied.
With statistical multiplexing, VCCs experience greater cell delay variation and
greater cell transfer delay. Depending on the size of buffers used to queue cells
for transmission, VCCs may also experience greater cell loss ratio. This
approach has the advantage of more efficient utilization of capacity and is
attractive if the VCCs can tolerate the lower QoS.
When statistical multiplexing is used, it is preferable to group VCCs into
VPCs on the basis of similar traffic characteristics and similar QoS requirements. If
dissimilar VCCs share the same VPC and statistical multiplexing is used, it is diffi-
cult to provide fair access to both high-demand and low-demand traffic streams.
Connection Admission Control Connection admission control is the first line
of defense for the network in protecting itself from excessive loads. In essence, when
a user requests a new VPC or VCC, the user must specify (implicitly or explicitly) the
traffic characteristics in both directions for that connection. The user selects traffic
characteristics by selecting a QoS from among the QoS classes that the network pro-
vides. The network accepts the connection only if it can commit the resources neces-
sary to support that traffic level while at the same time maintaining the agreed QoS
of existing connections. By accepting the connection, the network forms a traffic con-
tract with the user. Once the connection is accepted, the network continues to pro-
vide the agreed QoS as long as the user complies with the traffic contract.
The traffic contract may consist of the four parameters defined in Table 13.3:
peak cell rate (PCR), cell delay variation (CDV), sustainable cell rate (SCR), and
burst tolerance. Only the first two parameters are relevant for a constant-bit-rate
(CBR) source; all four parameters may be used for variable-bit-rate (VBR) sources.
As the name suggests, the peak cell rate is the maximum rate at which cells are
generated by the source on this connection. However, we need to take into account the
cell delay variation. Although a source may be generating cells at a constant peak rate,
cell delay variations introduced by various factors (see Figure 13.9) will affect the tim-
ing, causing cells to clump up and gaps to occur. Thus, a source may temporarily exceed
the peak cell rate due to clumping. For the network to properly allocate resources to
this connection, it must know not only the peak cell rate but also the CDV.
The exact relationship between peak cell rate and CDV depends on the oper-
ational definitions of these two terms. The standards provide these definitions in
terms of a cell rate algorithm. Because this algorithm can be used for usage parame-
ter control, we defer a discussion until the next subsection.
The PCR and CDV must be specified for every connection. As an option for
variable-bit rate sources, the user may also specify a sustainable cell rate and burst
tolerance. These parameters are analogous to PCR and CDV, respectively, but apply to
an average rate of cell generation rather than a peak rate. The user can describe the
future flow of cells in greater detail by using the SCR and burst tolerance as well as the
PCR and CDV.With this additional information, the network may be able to utilize the
13.6 / ATM TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT
403
Table 13.3
Traffic Parameters Used in Defining VCC/VPC Quality of Service
Parameter
Description
Traffic Type
Peak Cell Rate (PCR)
An upper bound on the traffic
CBR, VBR
that can be submitted on an
ATM connection.
Cell Delay Variation (CDV)
An upper bound on the
CBR, VBR
variability in the pattern of
cell arrivals observed at a
single measurement point with
reference to the peak cell rate.
Sustainable Cell Rate (SCR)
An upper bound on the
VBR
average rate of an ATM
connection, calculated over
the duration of the connection.
Burst Tolerance
An upper bound on the
VBR
variability in the pattern of
cell arrivals observed at a single
measurement point with reference
to the sustainable cell rate.
CBR = constant bit rate
VBR = variable bit rate
network resources more efficiently. For example, if a number of VCCs are statistically
multiplexed over a VPC, knowledge of both average and peak cell rates enables the net-
work to allocate buffers of sufficient size to handle the traffic efficiently without cell loss.
For a given connection (VPC or VCC) the four traffic parameters may be
specified in several ways, as illustrated in Table 13.4. Parameter values may be
implicitly defined by default rules set by the network operator. In this case, all con-
nections are assigned the same values, or all connections of a given class are assigned
the same values for that class. The network operator may also associate parameter
values with a given subscriber and assign these at the time of subscription. Finally,
parameter values tailored to a particular connection may be assigned at connection
Table 13.4
Procedures Used to Set Values of Traffic Contract Parameters
Explicitly Specified Parameters
Implicitly Specified
Parameters
Parameter Values Set at
Parameter Values
Parameter Values Set
Connection-Setup Time
Specified at Subscription
Using Default Rules
Time
Requested by User/NMS
Assigned by Network Operator
SVC
signaling
by subscription
network-operator default
rules
PVC
NMS
by subscription
network-operator default
rules
SVC = switched virtual connection
PVC = permanent virtual connection
NMS = network management system
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CHAPTER 13 / CONGESTION CONTROL IN DATA NETWORKS
time. In the case of a permanent virtual connection, these values are assigned by the
network when the connection is set up. For a switched virtual connection, the para-
meters are negotiated between the user and the network via a signaling protocol.
Another aspect of quality of service that may be requested or assigned for a
connection is cell loss priority. A user may request two levels of cell loss priority for
an ATM connection; the priority of an individual cell is indicated by the user
through the CLP bit in the cell header (Figure 11.4). When two priority levels are
used, the traffic parameters for both cell flows must be specified. Typically, this is
done by specifying a set of traffic parameters for high-priority traffic
1CLP = 02
and a set of traffic parameters for all traffic (
or 1). Based on this break-
CLP = 0
down, the network may be able to allocate resources more efficiently.
Usage Parameter Control Once a connection has been accepted by the connec-
tion admission control function, the usage parameter control (UPC) function of the net-
work monitors the connection to determine whether the traffic conforms to the traffic
contract. The main purpose of usage parameter control is to protect network resources
from an overload on one connection that would adversely affect the QoS on other con-
nections by detecting violations of assigned parameters and taking appropriate actions.
Usage parameter control can be done at both the virtual path and virtual channel
levels. Of these, the more important is VPC-level control, because network
resources are, in general, initially allocated on the basis of virtual paths, with the vir-
tual path capacity shared among the member virtual channels.
There are two separate functions encompassed by usage parameter control:
• Control of peak cell rate and the associated cell delay variation (CDV)
• Control of sustainable cell rate and the associated burst tolerance
Let us first consider the peak cell rate and the associated cell delay variation.
In simple terms, a traffic flow is compliant if the peak rate of cell transmission does
not exceed the agreed peak cell rate, subject to the possibility of cell delay variation
within the agreed bound. I.371 defines an algorithm, the peak cell rate algorithm,
that monitors compliance. The algorithm operates on the basis of two parameters: a
peak cell rate R and a CDV tolerance limit of t. Then
is the interarrival
T = 1/R
time between cells if there were no CDV. With CDV, T is the average interarrival
time at the peak rate. The algorithm has been defined to monitor the rate at which
cells arrive and to assure that the interarrival time is not too short to cause the flow
to exceed the peak cell rate by an amount greater than the tolerance limit.
The same algorithm, with different parameters, can be used to monitor the sus-
tainable cell rate and the associated burst tolerance. In this case, the parameters are
the sustainable cell rate
and a burst tolerance
Rs
ts.
The cell rate algorithm is rather complex; details can be found in [STAL99].
The algorithm simply defines a way to monitor compliance with the traffic contract.
To perform usage parameter control, the network must act on the results of the
algorithm. The simplest strategy is that compliant cells are passed along and non-
compliant cells are discarded at the point of the UPC function.
At the network’s option, cell tagging may also be used for noncompliant cells.
In this case, a noncompliant cell may be tagged with
(low priority) and
CLP = 1
passed. Such cells are then subject to discard at a later point in the network, should
congestion be encountered.
13.6 / ATM TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT
405
If the user has negotiated two levels of cell loss priority for a network, then the
situation is more complex. Recall that the user may negotiate a traffic contract for
high priority traffic
and a separate contract for aggregate traffic (CLP 0
1CLP = 02
or 1). The following rules apply:
1. A cell with
CLP = 0
that conforms to the traffic contract for
CLP = 0
passes.
2. A cell with
CLP = 0
that is noncompliant for
1CLP = 02
traffic but compliant
for (CLP 0 or 1) traffic is tagged and passed.
3. A cell with
that is noncompliant for
traffic and non-
CLP = 0
1CLP = 02
compliant for (CLP 0 or 1) traffic is discarded.
4. A cell with
that is compliant for (
or 1) traffic is passed.
CLP = 1
CLP = 0
5. A cell with
that is noncompliant for (CLP 0 or 1) traffic is discarded.
CLP = 1
Selective Cell Discard Selective cell discard comes into play when the network,
at some point beyond the UPC function, discards
cells. The objective is to
1CLP = 12
discard lower-priority cells during congestion to protect the performance for higher-
priority cells. Note that the network has no way to discriminate between cells that were
labeled as lower priority by the source and cells that were tagged by the UPC function.
Traffic Shaping The UPC algorithm is referred to as a form of traffic policing.
Traffic policing occurs when a flow of data is regulated so that cells (or frames or
packets) that exceed a certain performance level are discarded or tagged. It may be
desirable to supplement a traffic-policing policy with a traffic-shaping policy. Traf-
fic shaping is used to smooth out a traffic flow and reduce cell clumping. This can
result in a fairer allocation of resources and a reduced average delay time.
A simple approach to traffic shaping is to use a form of the UPC algorithm
known as token bucket. In contrast to the UPC algorithm, which simply monitors
the traffic and tags or discards noncompliant cells, a traffic-shaping token bucket
controls the flow of compliant cells.
Figure 13.11 illustrates the basic principle of the token bucket. A token gener-
ator produces tokens at a rate of r tokens per second and places these in the token
bucket, which has a maximum capacity of b tokens. Cells arriving from the source
Rate R
Token
generator
Capacity B
Arriving
Capacity K
Departing
cell
cell
Server
Figure 13.11
Token Bucket for Traffic Shaping
406
CHAPTER 13 / CONGESTION CONTROL IN DATA NETWORKS
are placed in a buffer with a maximum capacity of K cells. To transmit a cell through
the server, one token must be removed from the bucket. If the token bucket is
empty, the cell is queued waiting for the next token. The result of this scheme is that
if there is a backlog of cells and an empty bucket, then cells are emitted at a smooth
flow of r cells per second with no cell delay variation until the backlog is cleared.
Thus, the token bucket smoothes out bursts of cells.
13.7
ATM-GFR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT
GFR (guaranteed frame rate) provides a service that is as simple as UBR (unspecified
bit rate) from the end system’s point of view while placing a relatively modest require-
ment on the ATM network elements in terms of processing complexity and overhead.
In essence, with GFR, an end system does no policing or shaping of the traffic it trans-
mits but may transmit at the line rate of the ATM adapter. As with UBR, there is no
guarantee of frame delivery. It is up to a higher layer, such as TCP, to react to conges-
tion that results in dropped frames by employing the window management and con-
gestion control techniques discussed in Part Five. Unlike UBR, GFR allows the user to
reserve a certain amount of capacity, in terms of a cell rate, for each GFR VC. A GFR
reservation assures an application that it may transmit at a minimum rate without
losses. If the network is not congested, the user will be able to transmit at a higher rate.
A distinctive characteristic of GFR is that it requires the network to recognize
frames as well as cells. When congestion occurs, the network discards entire frames
rather than individual cells. Further, GFR requires that all of the cells of a frame
have the same CLP bit setting. The
AAL5 frames are treated as lower-
CLP = 1
priority frames that are to be transmitted on a best-effort basis. The minimum
guaranteed capacity applies to the
frames.
CLP = 0
The GFR traffic contract consists of the following parameters:
• Peak cell rate (PCR)
• Minimum cell rate (MCR)
• Maximum burst size (MBS)
• Maximum frame size (MFS)
• Cell delay variation tolerance (CDVT)
Mechanisms for Supporting Rate Guarantees
There are three basic approaches that can be used by the network to provide per-
VC guarantees for GFR and to enable a number of users to efficiently use and fairly
share the available network capacity [GOYA98]:
• Tagging and policing
• Buffer management
• Scheduling
These approaches can be combined in various ways in an ATM network ele-
ments to yield a number of possible GFR implementations. Figure 13.12 illustrates
their use.
13.7 / ATM-GFR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT
407
Buffer
UPC
F-GCRA
management
Scheduler
Service
QoS eligibility
Frame forwarding
conformance
test mechanism
mechanism
mechanism
Figure 13.12
The Fundamental Components of a GFR Mechanism [ANDR99]
Tagging and Policing Tagging is used to discriminate between frames that
conform to the GFR traffic contract and those that do not. The network element
doing the conformance checking sets
on all cells of each frame that does
CLP = 1
not conform. Because tagged cells are assumed to be in violation of the traffic con-
tract, they are given a lower quality of service than untagged cells by subsequent
mechanisms, such as buffer management and scheduling. Tagging can be done by
the network, especially the network element at the ingress to the ATM network.
But tagging may also be done by the source end system to indicate less important
frames.
The network, at either the ingress network element or at other ATM switching
elements, may also choose to discard cells of nonconforming frames (i.e., cells with
CLP = 1). Cell discard is considered a policing function.
Buffer Management Buffer management mechanisms have to do with the
way in which cells are treated that have been buffered at a network switch or that
arrive at a network switch and must be buffered prior to forwarding.When a con-
gestion condition exists, as reflected by high buffer occupancy, a network element
will discard tagged cells in preference to untagged cells. In particular, a network
element may discard a tagged cell that is already in a buffer to make room for an
incoming untagged cell.To provide fair and efficient use of buffer resources, a net-
work element may perform per-VC buffering, dedicating a certain amount of
buffer space to individual VCs. Then, on the basis of the traffic contracts for each
VC and the buffer occupancy per VC, the network element can make decisions
concerning cell discard. That is, cell discard can be based on queue-specific occu-
pancy thresholds.
Scheduling A scheduling function, at minimum, can give preferential treatment
to untagged cells over tagged cells. A network can also maintain separate queues for
each VC and make per-VC scheduling decisions. Thus, within each queue, a first-
come, first-served discipline can be used, perhaps modified to give higher priority
for scheduling to
CLP = 0 frames.
Scheduling among the queues enables the net-
work element to control the outgoing rate of individual VCs and thus ensure that
408
CHAPTER 13 / CONGESTION CONTROL IN DATA NETWORKS
individual VCs receive a fair allocation of capacity while meeting traffic contract
requirements for minimum cell rate for each VC.
GFR Conformance Definition
The first function indicated in Figure 13.12 is a UPC function. UPC monitors each
active VC to ensure that the traffic on each connection conforms to the traffic con-
tract, and tags or discards nonconforming cells.
A frame is conforming if all of its cells are conforming, and is nonconforming
if one or more cells are nonconforming. Three conditions must be met for a cell to
be conforming:
1. The rate of cells must be within the cell rate contract.
2. All cells of a frame must have the same CLP value. Thus, the CLP bit of the cur-
rent cell must have the same value as the CLP bit of the first cell of the frame.
3. The frame containing this cell must satisfy the MFS parameter. This condition
can be met by performing the following test on each cell: The cell either is the
last cell of the frame or the number of cells in the frame up to and including
this cell is less than MFS.
QoS Eligibility Test Mechanism
The first two boxes in Figure 13.12 show what amounts to a two-stage filtering
process. First, frames are tested for conformance to the traffic contract. Frames
that do not conform may be discarded immediately. If a nonconforming frame
is not discarded, its cells are tagged
making them vulnerable to dis-
1CLP = 12,
card later on in the network. This first stage is therefore looking at an upper
bound on traffic and penalizing cells that push the traffic flow above the upper
bound.
The second stage of filtering determines which frames are eligible for QoS
guarantees under the GFR contract for a given VC. This stage is looking at a
lower bound on traffic; over a given period of time, those frames that constitute
a traffic flow below the defined threshold are designated as eligible for QoS
handling.
Therefore, the frames transmitted on a GFR VC fall into three categories:
• Nonconforming frame: Cells of this frame will be tagged or discarded.
• Conforming but ineligible frames: Cells will receive a best-effort service.
• Conforming and eligible frames: Cells will receive a guarantee of delivery.
To determine eligibility, a form of the cell rate algorithm referred to in
Section 13.6 is used. A network may discard or tag any cells that are not eligible.
However,TM 4.1 states that it is expected that an implementation will attempt to
deliver conforming but ineligible traffic is on the basis of available resources,
with each GFR connection being provided at each link with a fair share of the
local residual bandwidth. The specification does not attempt to define a criterion
by which to determine if a given implementation meets the aforementioned
expectation.
13.8 / RECOMMENDED READING
409
13.8 RECOMMENDED READING
[YANG95] is a comprehensive survey of congestion control techniques. [JAIN90] and
[JAIN92] provide excellent discussions of the requirements for congestion control, the various
approaches that can be taken, and performance considerations. An excellent discussion of
data network performance issues is provided by [KLEI93]. While somewhat dated, the defin-
itive reference on flow control is [GERL80].
[GARR96] provides a rationale for the ATM service categories and discusses the traf-
fic management implications of each. [MCDY99] contains a thorough discussion of ATM
traffic control for CBR and VBR. Two excellent treatments of ATM traffic characteristics and
performance are [GIRO99] and [SCHW96].
[ANDR99] provides a clear, detailed description of GFR. Another useful description is
[BONA01].
Interesting examinations of frame relay congestion control issues are found in
[CHEN89] and [DOSH88]. Good treatments are also found in [BUCK00] and [GORA99].
ANDR99
Andrikopoulos, I.; Liakopoulous,A.; Pavlou, G.; and Sun, Z.“Providing Rate
Guarantees for Internet Application Traffic Across ATM Networks.”IEEE Com-
BONA01
Bonaventure, O., and Nelissen, J.“Guaranteed Frame Rate:A Better Service
for TCP/IP in ATM Networks.” IEEE Network, January/February 2001.
BUCK00
Buckwalter, J. Frame Relay: Technology and Practice. Reading, MA: Addison-
Wesley, 2000.
CHEN89
Chen, K.; Ho, K.; and Saksena, V. “Analysis and Design of a Highly Reliable
Transport Architecture for ISDN Frame-Relay Networks.” IEEE Journal on
Selected Areas in Communications, October 1989.
DOSH88
Doshi, B., and Nguyen, H. “Congestion Control in ISDN Frame-Relay Net-
works.” AT&T Technical Journal, November/December 1988.
GARR96
Garrett, M. “A Service Architecture for ATM: From Applications to Schedul-
ing.” IEEE Network, May/June 1996.
GERL80
Gerla, M., and Kleinrock, L. “Flow Control: A Comparative Survey.” IEEE
Transactions on Communications, April 1980.
GIRO99
Giroux, N., and Ganti, S. Quality of Service in ATM Networks. Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1999.
GORA99
Goralski, W. Frame Relay for High-Speed Networks. New York: Wiley 1999.
JAIN90
Jain, R. “Congestion Control in Computer Networks: Issues and Trends.” IEEE
Network Magazine, May 1990.
JAIN92
Jain, R. “Myths About Congestion Management in High-Speed Networks.”
Internetworking: Research and Experience, Volume 3, 1992.
KLEI93 Kleinrock, L. “On the Modeling and Analysis of Computer Networks.”
Proceedings of the IEEE, August 1993.
MCDY99 McDysan, D., and Spohn, D. ATM: Theory and Application. New York:
McGraw-Hill, 1999.
SCHW96
Schwartz, M. Broadband Integrated Networks. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice
Hall PTR, 1996.
YANG95
Yang, C., and Reddy, A. “A Taxonomy for Congestion Control Algorithms in
Packet Switching Networks.” IEEE Network, July/August 1995.
410
CHAPTER 13 / CONGESTION CONTROL IN DATA NETWORKS
13.9 KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
Key Terms
backpressure
congestion control
quality of service (QoS)
cell delay variation
explicit congestion signaling
reservations
choke packet
implicit congestion signaling
traffic management
congestion
Review Questions
13.1. When a node experiences saturation with respect to incoming packets, what general
strategies may be used?
13.2. Why is it that when the load exceeds the network capacity, delay tends to infinity?
13.3. Give a brief explanation of each of the congestion control techniques illustrated in
Figure 13.5.
13.4. What is the difference between backward and forward explicit congestion signaling?
13.5. Briefly explain the three general approaches to explicit congestion signaling.
13.6. Explain the concept of committed information rate (CIR) in frame relay networks
13.7. What is the significance of cell delay variation in an ATM network?
13.8. What functions are included in ATM usage parameter control?
13.9. What is the difference between traffic policing and traffic shaping?
Problems
13.1
A proposed congestion control technique is known as isarithmic control. In this
method, the total number of frames in transit is fixed by inserting a fixed number of
permits into the network. These permits circulate at random through the frame relay
network. Whenever a frame handler wants to relay a frame just given to it by an
attached user, it must first capture and destroy a permit. When the frame is delivered
to the destination user by the frame handler to which it attaches, that frame handler
reissues the permit. List three potential problems with this technique.
13.2
In the discussion of latency/speed effects in Section 13.5, an example was given in
which over 7 megabits were transmitted before the source could react. But isn’t a slid-
ing-window flow control technique, such as described for HDLC, designed to cope
with long propagation delays?
13.3
When the sustained traffic through a packet-switching node exceeds the node’s
capacity, the node must discard packets. Buffers only defer the congestion problem;
they do not solve it. Consider the packet-switching network in Figure 13.13. Five sta-
tions attach to one of the network’s nodes. The node has a single link to the rest of the
network with a normalized throughput capacity of
Senders 1 through 5 are
C = 1.0.
sending at average sustained rates of r of 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5, respectively. Clearly
i
the node is overloaded. To deal with the congestion, the node discards packets from
sender i with a probability of
a. Show the relationship among
and C so that the rate of undiscarded packets
pi . pi
, ri,
does not exceed C.
The node establishes a discard policy by assigning values to the p such that the
i
relationship derived in part (a) of this problem is satisfied. For each of the following
policies, verify that the relationship is satisfied and describe in words the policy from
the point of view of the senders.
13.9 / KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
411
S1 (r1)
S2 (r2)
S3 (r3)
S4 (r4)
S5 (r5)
C
1
rest of
network
Figure 13.13
Stations Attached to a Packet-Switching Node
b.
p1 = 0.333; p2 = 0.333; p3 = 0.333; p4 = 0.333; p5 = 0.333
c.
p1 = 0.091; p2 = 0.182; p3 = 0.273; p4 = 0.364; p5 = 0.455
d.
p1 = 0.0; p2 = 0.0; p3 = 0.222; p4 = 0.417; p5 = 0.533
e.
p1 = 0.0; p2 = 0.0; p3 = 0.0; p4 = 0.0; p5 = 1.0
13.4
Consider the frame relay network depicted in Figure 13.14. C is the capacity of a link in
frames per second. Node A presents a constant load of 0.8 frames per second destined
0.8
A
C
1
C
10
C
1
L
B
S
B'
C
1
A'
Figure 13.14
Network of Frame Relay Nodes
412
CHAPTER 13 / CONGESTION CONTROL IN DATA NETWORKS
for
A¿.
Node B presents a load ldestined for
B¿.
Node S has a common pool of buffers
that it uses for traffic both to
A¿
and B¿.When the buffer is full, frames are discarded,
and are later retransmitted by the source user. S has a throughput capacity of 2. Plot the
total throughput (i.e., the sum of
A-A¿
and
B-B¿
delivered traffic) as a function of
l.
What fraction of the throughput is
A-A¿
traffic for
l 7 1?
13.5
For a frame relay network to be able to detect and then signal congestion, it is necessary
for each frame handler to monitor its queuing behavior. If queue lengths begin to grow
to a dangerous level, then either forward or backward explicit notification or a combi-
nation should be set to try to reduce the flow of frames through that frame handler. The
frame handler has some choice as to which logical connections should be alerted to con-
gestion. If congestion is becoming quite serious, all logical connections through a frame
handler might be notified. In the early stages of congestion, the frame handler might
just notify users for those connections that are generating the most traffic.
In one of the frame relay specifications, an algorithm for monitoring queue lengths
is suggested; this is shown in Figure 13.15. A cycle begins when the outgoing circuit
goes from idle (queue empty) to busy (nonzero queue size, including the current
frame). If a threshold value is exceeded, then the circuit is in a state of incipient con-
gestion, and the congestion avoidance bits should be set on some or all logical connec-
tions that use that circuit. Describe the algorithm in words and explain its advantages.
The algorithm makes use of the following variables:
t
current time
ti
time of ith arrival or departure event
qi
number of frames in the system after the event
T0
time at the beginning of the previous cycle
T1
time at the beginning of the current cycle
The algorithm consists of three components:
1. Update: Beginning with q0 :
0
If the ith event is an arrival event, qi : qi
1
1
If the ith event is a departure event, qi : qi
1
1
2.
Ai
qi
(ti
ti
1
1
1)
i
ti
[T0, T1)
Ai
qi
1
(ti
ti
1)
i
ti
[T1, t)
3.
L Ai Ai1
t
T0
Figure 13.15
A Frame Relay Algorithm
13.6
Compare sustainable cell rate and burst tolerance, as used in ATM networks, with
committed information rate and excess burst size, as used in frame relay networks. Do
the respective terms represent the same concepts?
CHAPTER
14
CELLULAR WIRELESS NETWORKS
14.1
Principles of Cellular Networks
14.2
First-Generation Analog
14.3
Second-Generation CDMA
14.4
Third-Generation Systems
14.5
Recommended Reading and Web Sites
14.6
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
413
414
CHAPTER 14 / CELLULAR WIRELESS NETWORKS
After the fire of 1805, Judge Woodward was the central figure involved in reestab-
lishing the town. Influenced by Major Pierre L’Enfant’s plans for Washington, DC,
Judge Woodward envisioned a modern series of hexagons with major diagonal
avenues centered on circular parks, or circuses, in the center of the hexagons. Fred-
erick Law Olmstead said, ”nearly all of the most serious mistakes of Detroit’s past
have arisen from a disregard of the spirit of Woodward’s plan.”
—Endangered Detroit, Friends of the Book-Cadillac Hotel
KEY POINTS
• The essence of a cellular network is the use of multiple low-power
transmitters. The area to be covered is divided into cells in a hexago-
nal tile pattern that provide full coverage of the area.
• A major technical problem for cellular networks is fading, which
refers to the time variation of received signal power caused by
changes in the transmission medium or path(s).
• First-generation cellular networks were analog, making use of frequency
division multiplexing.
• Second-generation cellular networks are digital. One technique in
widespread use is based on code division multiple access (CDMA).
• The objective of the third-generation (3G) of wireless communication
is to provide fairly high-speed wireless communications to support
multimedia, data, and video in addition to voice.
Of all the tremendous advances in data communications and telecommunica-
tions, perhaps the most revolutionary is the development of cellular networks.
Cellular technology is the foundation of mobile wireless communications and
supports users in locations that are not easily served by wired networks. Cellu-
lar technology is the underlying technology for mobile telephones, personal
communications systems, wireless Internet and wireless Web applications, and
much more.
We begin this chapter with a look at the basic principles used in all cellular
networks. Then we look at specific cellular technologies and standards, which are
conveniently grouped into three generations. The first generation is analog based
and, while still widely used, is passing from the scene. The dominant technology
today is the digital second-generation systems. Finally, third-generation high-
speed digital systems have begun to emerge.
14.1 / PRINCIPLES OF CELLULAR NETWORKS
415
14.1
PRINCIPLES OF CELLULAR NETWORKS
Cellular radio is a technique that was developed to increase the capacity available for
mobile radio telephone service. Prior to the introduction of cellular radio, mobile
radio telephone service was only provided by a high-power transmitter/receiver. A
typical system would support about 25 channels with an effective radius of about
80 km. The way to increase the capacity of the system is to use lower-power systems
with shorter radius and to use numerous transmitters/receivers. We begin this section
with a look at the organization of cellular systems and then examine some of the
details of their implementation.
Cellular Network Organization
The essence of a cellular network is the use of multiple low-power transmitters, on
the order of 100 W or less. Because the range of such a transmitter is small, an area
can be divided into cells, each one served by its own antenna. Each cell is allocated
a band of frequencies and is served by a base station, consisting of transmitter,
receiver, and control unit. Adjacent cells are assigned different frequencies to avoid
interference or crosstalk. However, cells sufficiently distant from each other can use
the same frequency band.
The first design decision to make is the shape of cells to cover an area. A
matrix of square cells would be the simplest layout to define (Figure 14.1a).
However, this geometry is not ideal. If the width of a square cell is d, then a cell
has four neighbors at a distance d and four neighbors at a distance
As a
22d.
mobile user within a cell moves toward the cell’s boundaries, it is best if all of the
adjacent antennas are equidistant.This simplifies the task of determining when to
switch the user to an adjacent antenna and which antenna to choose.A hexagonal
pattern provides for equidistant antennas (Figure 14.1b).The radius of a hexagon
is defined to be the radius of the circle that circumscribes it (equivalently, the
distance from the center to each vertex; also equal to the length of a side of a
R
d
d
(a) Square pattern
(b) Hexagonal pattern
Figure 14.1
Cellular Geometries
416
CHAPTER 14 / CELLULAR WIRELESS NETWORKS
hexagon). For a cell radius R, the distance between the cell center and each adja-
cent cell center is
d = 23R.
In practice, a precise hexagonal pattern is not used. Variations from the ideal
are due to topographical limitations, local signal propagation conditions, and practi-
cal limitation on siting antennas.
A wireless cellular system limits the opportunity to use the same frequency for
different communications because the signals, not being constrained, can interfere with
one another even if geographically separated. Systems supporting a large number of
communications simultaneously need mechanisms to conserve spectrum.
Frequency Reuse In a cellular system, each cell has a base transceiver. The trans-
mission power is carefully controlled (to the extent that it is possible in the highly vari-
able mobile communication environment) to allow communication within the cell
using a given frequency while limiting the power at that frequency that escapes the cell
into adjacent ones. The objective is to use the same frequency in other nearby cells,
thus allowing the frequency to be used for multiple simultaneous conversations. Gen-
erally, 10 to 50 frequencies are assigned to each cell, depending on the traffic expected.
The essential issue is to determine how many cells must intervene between two
cells using the same frequency so that the two cells do not interfere with each other.
Various patterns of frequency reuse are possible. Figure 14.2 shows some examples. If
2
2
7
3
1
7
3
6
4
1
2
6
4
5
2
4
3
5
2
7
3
2
1
2
2
7
3
1
4
3
4
3
7
3
1
6
4
Circle with
1
1
2
1
6
4
5
radius D
4
3
6
4
5
2
2
1
2
5
2
7
3
4
3
4
3
7
3
1
1
2
1
6
4
1
4
3
6
4
5
1
5
(a) Frequency reuse pattern for N
4
(b) Frequency reuse pattern for N
7
(c) Black cells indicate a frequency reuse for N
19
Figure 14.2
Frequency Reuse Patterns
14.1 / PRINCIPLES OF CELLULAR NETWORKS
417
the pattern consists of N cells and each cell is assigned the same number of frequen-
cies, each cell can have K/N frequencies, where K is the total number of frequencies
allotted to the system. For AMPS (Section 14.2),
and
is the smallest
K = 395,
N = 7
pattern that can provide sufficient isolation between two uses of the same frequency.
This implies that there can be at most 57 frequencies per cell on average.
In characterizing frequency reuse, the following parameters are commonly
used:
D = minimum distance between centers of cells that use the same band
of frequencies (called cochannels)
R = radius of a cell
d = distance between centers of adjacent cells
(d = 23R)
N = number of cells in a repetitious pattern (each cell in the pattern uses
a unique band of frequencies), termed the reuse factor
In a hexagonal cell pattern, only the following values of N are possible:
N = I2 + J2 + 1I * J2, I, J = 0, 1, 2, 3, Á
Hence, possible values of N are 1, 3, 4, 7, 9, 12, 13, 16, 19, 21, and so on. The fol-
lowing relationship holds:
D
23N
R =
This can also be expressed as
D/d = 2N.
Increasing Capacity In time, as more customers use the system, traffic may build
up so that there are not enough frequencies assigned to a cell to handle its calls.A num-
ber of approaches have been used to cope with this situation, including the following:
• Adding new channels: Typically, when a system is set up in a region, not all of
the channels are used, and growth and expansion can be managed in an
orderly fashion by adding new channels.
• Frequency borrowing: In the simplest case, frequencies are taken from adjacent
cells by congested cells.The frequencies can also be assigned to cells dynamically.
• Cell splitting: In practice, the distribution of traffic and topographic features is
not uniform, and this presents opportunities for capacity increase. Cells in
areas of high usage can be split into smaller cells. Generally, the original cells
are about 6.5 to 13 km in size. The smaller cells can themselves be split; how-
ever, 1.5-km cells are close to the practical minimum size as a general solution
(but see the subsequent discussion of microcells). To use a smaller cell, the
power level used must be reduced to keep the signal within the cell. Also, as
the mobile units move, they pass from cell to cell, which requires transferring
of the call from one base transceiver to another. This process is called a
handoff. As the cells get smaller, these handoffs become much more frequent.
Figure 14.3 indicates schematically how cells can be divided to provide more
capacity. A radius reduction by a factor of F reduces the coverage area and
increases the required number of base stations by a factor of F2.
418
CHAPTER 14 / CELLULAR WIRELESS NETWORKS
Figure 14.3
Cell Splitting
• Cell sectoring: With cell sectoring, a cell is divided into a number of wedge-
shaped sectors, each with its own set of channels, typically three or six
sectors per cell. Each sector is assigned a separate subset of the cell’s chan-
nels, and directional antennas at the base station are used to focus on each
sector.
• Microcells: As cells become smaller, antennas move from the tops of
tall buildings or hills, to the tops of small buildings or the sides of large
buildings, and finally to lamp posts, where they form microcells. Each
decrease in cell size is accompanied by a reduction in the radiated power
levels from the base stations and the mobile units. Microcells are useful
in city streets in congested areas, along highways, and inside large public
buildings.
Table 14.1 suggests typical parameters for traditional cells, called macrocells, and
microcells with current technology.The average delay spread refers to multipath delay
spread (i.e., the same signal follows different paths and there is a time delay between
the earliest and latest arrival of the signal at the receiver). As indicated, the use
of smaller cells enables the use of lower power and provides superior propagation
conditions.
Table 14.1
Typical Parameters for Macrocells and Microcells
[ANDE95]
Macrocell
Microcell
Cell radius
1 to 20 km
0.1 to 1 km
Transmission power
1 to 10 W
0.1 to 1 W
Average delay spread
0.1 to
10 ms
10 to 100 ns
Maximum bit rate
0.3 Mbps
1 Mbps
14.1 / PRINCIPLES OF CELLULAR NETWORKS
419
EXAMPLE [HAAS00]. Assume a system of 32 cells with a cell radius of 1.6 km,
a total of 32 cells, a total frequency bandwidth that supports 336 traffic channels,
and a reuse factor of
If there are 32 total cells, what geographic area is cov-
N = 7.
ered, how many channels are there per cell, and what is the total number of con-
current calls that can be handled? Repeat for a cell radius of 0.8 km and 128 cells.
Figure 14.4a shows an approximately square pattern. The area of a hexagon
of radius R is
1.5R2 23.
A hexagon of radius 1.6 km has an area of
6.65 km2,
and
the total area covered is
6.65 * 32 = 213 km
2.
For
N = 7,
the number of chan-
nels per cell is
336/7 = 48,
for a total channel capacity of
48 * 32 = 1536
chan-
nels. For the layout of Figure 14.4b, the area covered is
1.66 * 128 = 213 km2.
The number of channels per cell is
336/7 = 48,
for a total channel capacity of
48 * 128 = 6144 channels.
Width
11
1.6
17.6 km
Width
21
0.8
16.8 km
(a) Cell radius
1.6 km
(b) Cell radius
0.8 km
Figure 14.4
Frequency Reuse Example
Operation of Cellular Systems
Figure 14.5 shows the principal elements of a cellular system. In the approximate
center of each cell is a base station (BS). The BS includes an antenna, a controller,
and a number of transceivers, for communicating on the channels assigned to that
cell. The controller is used to handle the call process between the mobile unit and the
rest of the network. At any time, a number of mobile user units may be active and
moving about within a cell, communicating with the BS. Each BS is connected to a
mobile telecommunications switching office (MTSO), with one MTSO serving multiple
BSs. Typically, the link between an MTSO and a BS is by a wire line, although a
wireless link is also possible. The MTSO connects calls between mobile units. The
MTSO is also connected to the public telephone or telecommunications network and
can make a connection between a fixed subscriber to the public network and a
mobile subscriber to the cellular network. The MTSO assigns the voice channel to
each call, performs handoffs, and monitors the call for billing information.
420
CHAPTER 14 / CELLULAR WIRELESS NETWORKS
Base
transceiver
station
Public
Mobile
telecommunications
telecommuni-
Base
switching
cations
transceiver
network
switching
station
office
Base
transceiver
station
Figure 14.5
Overview of Cellular System
The use of a cellular system is fully automated and requires no action on the
part of the user other than placing or answering a call. Two types of channels are
available between the mobile unit and the base station (BS): control channels and
traffic channels. Control channels are used to exchange information having to do
with setting up and maintaining calls and with establishing a relationship between a
mobile unit and the nearest BS. Traffic channels carry a voice or data connection
between users. Figure 14.6 illustrates the steps in a typical call between two mobile
users within an area controlled by a single MTSO:
• Mobile unit initialization: When the mobile unit is turned on, it scans and
selects the strongest setup control channel used for this system (Figure 14.6a).
Cells with different frequency bands repetitively broadcast on different setup
channels. The receiver selects the strongest setup channel and monitors that
channel. The effect of this procedure is that the mobile unit has automatically
selected the BS antenna of the cell within which it will operate.1 Then a hand-
shake takes place between the mobile unit and the MTSO controlling this cell,
through the BS in this cell. The handshake is used to identify the user and reg-
ister its location. As long as the mobile unit is on, this scanning procedure is
repeated periodically to account for the motion of the unit. If the unit enters a
new cell, then a new BS is selected. In addition, the mobile unit is monitoring
for pages, discussed subsequently.
• Mobile-originated call: A mobile unit originates a call by sending the number
of the called unit on the preselected setup channel (Figure 14.6b). The receiver
at the mobile unit first checks that the setup channel is idle by examining
information in the forward (from the BS) channel. When an idle is detected,
the mobile may transmit on the corresponding reverse (to BS) channel. The
BS sends the request to the MTSO.
1Usually, but not always, the antenna and therefore the base station selected is the closest one to the
mobile unit. However, because of propagation anomalies, this is not always the case.
14.1 / PRINCIPLES OF CELLULAR NETWORKS
421
M
M
T
T
S
S
O
O
(a) Monitor for strongest signal
(b) Request for connection
M
M
T
T
S
S
O
O
(c) Paging
(d) Call accepted
M
M
T
T
S
S
O
O
(e) Ongoing call
(f) Handoff
Figure 14.6
Example of Mobile Cellular Call
• Paging: The MTSO then attempts to complete the connection to the called
unit. The MTSO sends a paging message to certain BSs depending on the
called mobile number (Figure 14.6c). Each BS transmits the paging signal on
its own assigned setup channel.
• Call accepted: The called mobile unit recognizes its number on the setup chan-
nel being monitored and responds to that BS, which sends the response to the
MTSO. The MTSO sets up a circuit between the calling and called BSs. At the
same time, the MTSO selects an available traffic channel within each BS’s cell
and notifies each BS, which in turn notifies its mobile unit (Figure 14.6d). The
two mobile units tune to their respective assigned channels.
422
CHAPTER 14 / CELLULAR WIRELESS NETWORKS
• Ongoing call: While the connection is maintained, the two mobile units
exchange voice or data signals, going through their respective BSs and the
MTSO (Figure 14.6e).
• Handoff : If a mobile unit moves out of range of one cell and into the range of
another during a connection, the traffic channel has to change to one assigned
to the BS in the new cell (Figure 14.6f). The system makes this change without
either interrupting the call or alerting the user.
Other functions performed by the system but not illustrated in Figure 14.6
include the following:
• Call blocking: During the mobile-initiated call stage, if all the traffic channels
assigned to the nearest BS are busy, then the mobile unit makes a preconfig-
ured number of repeated attempts. After a certain number of failed tries, a
busy tone is returned to the user.
• Call termination: When one of the two users hangs up, the MTSO is informed
and the traffic channels at the two BSs are released.
• Call drop: During a connection, because of interference or weak signal spots
in certain areas, if the BS cannot maintain the minimum required signal
strength for a certain period of time, the traffic channel to the user is dropped
and the MTSO is informed.
• Calls to/from fixed and remote mobile subscriber: The MTSO connects to the
public switched telephone network. Thus, the MTSO can set up a connection
between a mobile user in its area and a fixed subscriber via the telephone net-
work. Further, the MTSO can connect to a remote MTSO via the telephone
network or via dedicated lines and set up a connection between a mobile user
in its area and a remote mobile user.
Mobile Radio Propagation Effects
Mobile radio communication introduces complexities not found in wire communi-
cation or in fixed wireless communication. Two general areas of concern are signal
strength and signal propagation effects.
• Signal strength: The strength of the signal between the base station and the
mobile unit must be strong enough to maintain signal quality at the receiver but
no so strong as to create too much cochannel interference with channels in
another cell using the same frequency band. Several complicating factors exist.
Human-made noise varies considerably, resulting in a variable noise level. For
example, automobile ignition noise in the cellular frequency range is greater in
the city than in a suburban area. Other signal sources vary from place to place.
The signal strength varies as a function of distance from the BS to a point within
its cell. Moreover, the signal strength varies dynamically as the mobile unit moves.
• Fading: Even if signal strength is within an effective range, signal propagation
effects may disrupt the signal and cause errors. Fading is discussed subse-
quently in this section.
In designing a cellular layout, the communications engineer must take account
of these various propagation effects, the desired maximum transmit power level at the
14.1 / PRINCIPLES OF CELLULAR NETWORKS
423
base station and the mobile units, the typical height of the mobile unit antenna, and
the available height of the BS antenna. These factors will determine the size of the
individual cell. Unfortunately, as just described, the propagation effects are dynamic
and difficult to predict. The best that can be done is to come up with a model based on
empirical data and to apply that model to a given environment to develop guidelines
for cell size. One of the most widely used models was developed by Okumura et al.
[OKUM68] and subsequently refined by Hata [HATA80]. The original was a detailed
analysis of the Tokyo area and produced path loss information for an urban environ-
ment. Hata’s model is an empirical formulation that takes into account a variety of
environments and conditions. For an urban environment, predicted path loss is
LdB = 69.55 + 26.16 log fc - 13.82 log ht - A(hr) + (44.9 - 6.55 log ht) log d (14.1)
where
fc = carrier frequency in MHz from 150 to 1500 MHz
ht = height of transmitting antenna 1base station2 in m, from 30 to 300 m
hr = height of receiving antenna 1mobile station2 in m, from 1 to 10 m
d = propagation distance between antennas in km, from 1 to 20 km
A1hr2 = correction factor for mobile antenna height
For a small- or medium-sized city, the correction factor is given by
A1hr2 = 11.1 log fc - 0.72hr - 11.56 log fc - 0.82 dB
And for a large city it is given by
A1hr2 = 8.29[log11.54hr2]2 - 1.1 dB
for fc … 300 MHz
A1hr2 = 3.2[log111.75hr2]2 - 4.97 dB
for fc Ú 300 MHz
To estimate the path loss in a suburban area, the formula for urban path loss in
Equation (14.1) is modified as
LdB1suburban2 = LdB1urban2 - 2[log1fc/282]2 - 5.4
And for the path loss in open areas, the formula is modified as
LdB1open2 = LdB1urban2 - 4.781log fc22 - 18.7331log fc2 - 40.98
The Okumura/Hata model is considered to be among the best in terms of
accuracy in path loss prediction and provides a practical means of estimating path
loss in a wide variety of situations [FREE97, RAPP97].
EXAMPLE [FREE97]. Let
f
c
= 900 MHz,
h
t
= 40 m,
h
r
= 5 m,
and
d =
10 km. Estimate the path loss for a medium-size city.
A1hr2 = 11.1 log 900 - 0.725 - 11.56 log 900 - 0.82 dB
= 12.75 - 3.8 = 8.95 dB
LdB = 69.55 + 26.16 log 900 - 13.82 log 40 - 8.95 + 144.9 - 6.55 log 402 log 10
= 69.55 + 77.28 - 22.14 - 8.95 + 34.4 = 150.14 dB
424
CHAPTER 14 / CELLULAR WIRELESS NETWORKS
R
Lamp
post
S
D
R
Figure 14.7
Sketch of Three Important Propagation Mechanisms: Reflection (R), Scatter-
ing (S), Diffraction (D) [ANDE95]
Fading in the Mobile Environment
Perhaps the most challenging technical problem facing communications systems
engineers is fading in a mobile environment. The term fading refers to the time vari-
ation of received signal power caused by changes in the transmission medium or
path(s). In a fixed environment, fading is affected by changes in atmospheric condi-
tions, such as rainfall. But in a mobile environment, where one of the two antennas
is moving relative to the other, the relative location of various obstacles changes
over time, creating complex transmission effects.
Multipath Propagation Three propagation mechanisms, illustrated in Figure 14.7,
play a role. Reflection occurs when an electromagnetic signal encounters a surface that
is large relative to the wavelength of the signal. For example, suppose a ground-reflected
wave near the mobile unit is received. Because the ground-reflected wave has a 180°
phase shift after reflection, the ground wave and the line-of-sight (LOS) wave may tend
to cancel, resulting in high signal loss.2 Further, because the mobile antenna is lower
than most human-made structures in the area, multipath interference occurs. These
reflected waves may interfere constructively or destructively at the receiver.
2On the other hand, the reflected signal has a longer path, which creates a phase shift due to delay
relative to the unreflected signal. When this delay is equivalent to half a wavelength, the two signals
are back in phase.
14.1 / PRINCIPLES OF CELLULAR NETWORKS
425
Diffraction occurs at the edge of an impenetrable body that is large compared
to the wavelength of the radio wave. When a radio wave encounters such an edge,
waves propagate in different directions with the edge as the source. Thus, signals can
be received even when there is no unobstructed LOS from the transmitter.
If the size of an obstacle is on the order of the wavelength of the signal or less,
scattering occurs.An incoming signal is scattered into several weaker outgoing sig-
nals.At typical cellular microwave frequencies, there are numerous objects, such as
lamp posts and traffic signs, that can cause scattering. Thus, scattering effects are
difficult to predict.
These three propagation effects influence system performance in various ways
depending on local conditions and as the mobile unit moves within a cell. If a mobile
unit has a clear LOS to the transmitter, then diffraction and scattering are generally
minor effects, although reflection may have a significant impact. If there is no clear
LOS, such as in an urban area at street level, then diffraction and scattering are the
primary means of signal reception.
The Effects of Multipath Propagation As just noted, one unwanted effect
of multipath propagation is that multiple copies of a signal may arrive at different
phases. If these phases add destructively, the signal level relative to noise declines,
making signal detection at the receiver more difficult.
A second phenomenon, of particular importance for digital transmission, is intersym-
bol interference (ISI). Consider that we are sending a narrow pulse at a given fre-
quency across a link between a fixed antenna and a mobile unit. Figure 14.8 shows what
the channel may deliver to the receiver if the impulse is sent at two different times. The
upper line shows two pulses at the time of transmission. The lower line shows the
resulting pulses at the receiver. In each case the first received pulse is the desired LOS
signal. The magnitude of that pulse may change because of changes in atmospheric
attenuation. Further, as the mobile unit moves farther away from the fixed antenna, the
amount of LOS attenuation increases. But in addition to this primary pulse, there may
Transmitted
Transmitted
pulse
pulse
Time
Received
Received
Received
Received
multipath
multipath
LOS pulse
LOS pulse
pulses
pulses
Time
Figure 14.8
Two Pulses in Time-Variant Multipath
426
CHAPTER 14 / CELLULAR WIRELESS NETWORKS
be multiple secondary pulses due to reflection, diffraction, and scattering. Now suppose
that this pulse encodes one or more bits of data. In that case, one or more delayed
copies of a pulse may arrive at the same time as the primary pulse for a subsequent bit.
These delayed pulses act as a form of noise to the subsequent primary pulse, making
recovery of the bit information more difficult.
As the mobile antenna moves, the location of various obstacles changes; hence
the number, magnitude, and timing of the secondary pulses change. This makes it
difficult to design signal processing techniques that will filter out multipath effects
so that the intended signal is recovered with fidelity.
Types of Fading Fading effects in a mobile environment can be classified as
either fast or slow. Referring to Figure 14.7, as the mobile unit moves down a street
in an urban environment, rapid variations in signal strength occur over distances of
about one-half a wavelength. At a frequency of 900 MHz, which is typical for mobile
cellular applications, a wavelength is 0.33 m. Changes of amplitude can be as much
as 20 or 30 dB over a short distance. This type of rapidly changing fading phenome-
non, known as fast fading, affects not only mobile phones in automobiles, but even a
mobile phone user walking down an urban street.
As the mobile user covers distances well in excess of a wavelength, the urban envi-
ronment changes, as the user passes buildings of different heights, vacant lots, intersec-
tions, and so forth. Over these longer distances, there is a change in the average received
power level about which the rapid fluctuations occur. This is referred to as slow fading.
Fading effects can also be classified as flat or selective. Flat fading, or nonselec-
tive fading, is that type of fading in which all frequency components of the received sig-
nal fluctuate in the same proportions simultaneously. Selective fading affects unequally
the different spectral components of a radio signal. The term selective fading is usually
significant only relative to the bandwidth of the overall communications channel. If
attenuation occurs over a portion of the bandwidth of the signal, the fading is consid-
ered to be selective; nonselective fading implies that the signal bandwidth of interest is
narrower than, and completely covered by, the spectrum affected by the fading.
Error Compensation Mechanisms The efforts to compensate for the errors
and distortions introduced by multipath fading fall into three general categories:
forward error correction, adaptive equalization, and diversity techniques. In the typ-
ical mobile wireless environment, techniques from all three categories are combined
to combat the error rates encountered.
Forward error correction is applicable in digital transmission applications:
those in which the transmitted signal carries digital data or digitized voice or video
data. Typically in mobile wireless applications, the ratio of total bits sent to data bits
sent is between 2 and 3. This may seem an extravagant amount of overhead, in that
the capacity of the system is cut to one-half or one-third of its potential, but the mobile
wireless environment is so difficult that such levels of redundancy are necessary.
Chapter 6 discusses forward error correction.
Adaptive equalization can be applied to transmissions that carry analog infor-
mation (e.g., analog voice or video) or digital information (e.g., digital data, digitized
voice or video) and is used to combat intersymbol interference. The process of
equalization involves some method of gathering the dispersed symbol energy back
together into its original time interval. Equalization is a broad topic; techniques
14.2 / FIRST-GENERATION ANALOG
427
include the use of so-called lumped analog circuits as well as sophisticated digital
signal processing algorithms.
Diversity is based on the fact that individual channels experience independent
fading events. We can therefore compensate for error effects by providing multiple
logical channels in some sense between transmitter and receiver and sending part of
the signal over each channel. This technique does not eliminate errors but it does
reduce the error rate, since we have spread the transmission out to avoid being sub-
jected to the highest error rate that might occur. The other techniques (equalization,
forward error correction) can then cope with the reduced error rate.
Some diversity techniques involve the physical transmission path and are
referred to as space diversity. For example, multiple nearby antennas may be used to
receive the message, with the signals combined in some fashion to reconstruct the
most likely transmitted signal. Another example is the use of collocated multiple
directional antennas, each oriented to a different reception angle with the incoming
signals again combined to reconstitute the transmitted signal.
More commonly, the term diversity refers to frequency diversity or time diver-
sity techniques. With frequency diversity, the signal is spread out over a larger fre-
quency bandwidth or carried on multiple frequency carriers. The most important
example of this approach is spread spectrum, which is examined in Chapter 9.
14.2
FIRST-GENERATION ANALOG
The original cellular telephone networks provided analog traffic channels; these are
now referred to as first-generation systems. Since the early 1980s the most common
first-generation system in North America has been the Advanced Mobile Phone
Service (AMPS) developed by AT&T. This approach is also common in South
America, Australia, and China. Although gradually being replaced by second-gener-
ation systems, AMPS is still in common use. In this section, we provide an overview
of AMPS.
Spectral Allocation
In North America, two 25-MHz bands are allocated to AMPS (Table 14.2), one for
transmission from the base station to the mobile unit (869-894 MHz), the other for
transmission from the mobile to the base station (824-849 MHz). Each of these
bands is split in two to encourage competition (i.e., so that in each market two oper-
ators can be accommodated). An operator is allocated only 12.5 MHz in each direc-
tion for its system. The channels are spaced 30 kHz apart, which allows a total of 416
channels per operator. Twenty-one channels are allocated for control, leaving 395 to
carry calls. The control channels are data channels operating at 10 kbps. The conver-
sation channels carry the conversations in analog using frequency modulation. Con-
trol information is also sent on the conversation channels in bursts as data. This
number of channels is inadequate for most major markets, so some way must be
found either to use less bandwidth per conversation or to reuse frequencies. Both
approaches have been taken in the various approaches to mobile telephony. For
AMPS, frequency reuse is exploited.
428
CHAPTER 14 / CELLULAR WIRELESS NETWORKS
Table 14.2
AMPS Parameters
Base station transmission band
869 to 894 MHz
Mobile unit transmission band
824 to 849 MHz
Spacing between forward and reverse channels
45 MHz
Channel bandwidth
30 kHz
Number of full-duplex voice channels
790
Number of full-duplex control channels
42
Mobile unit maximum power
3 watts
Cell size, radius
2 to 20 km
Modulation, voice channel
FM, 12-kHz peak deviation
Modulation, control channel
FSK, 8-kHz peak deviation
Data transmission rate
10 kbps
Error control coding
BCH (48, 36,5) and (40, 28,5)
Operation
Each AMPS-capable cellular telephone includes a numeric assignment module (NAM)
in read-only memory. The NAM contains the telephone number of the phone, which is
assigned by the service provider, and the serial number of the phone, which is assigned
by the manufacturer. When the phone is turned on, it transmits its serial number and
phone number to the MTSO (Figure 14.5); the MTSO maintains a database with infor-
mation about mobile units that have been reported stolen and uses serial number to
lock out stolen units. The MTSO uses the phone number for billing purposes. If the
phone is used in a remote city, the service is still billed to the user’s local service provider.
When a call is placed, the following sequence of events occurs [COUC01]:
1. The subscriber initiates a call by keying in the telephone number of the called
party and presses the send key.
2. The MTSO verifies that the telephone number is valid and that the user is autho-
rized to place the call; some service providers require the user to enter a PIN
(personal identification number) as well as the called number to counter theft.
3. The MTSO issues a message to the user’s cell phone indicating which traffic
channels to use for sending and receiving.
4. The MTSO sends out a ringing signal to the called party. All of these operations
(steps 2 through 4) occur within 10 s of initiating the call.
5. When the called party answers, the MTSO establishes a circuit between the two
parties and initiates billing information.
6. When one party hangs up, the MTSO releases the circuit, frees the radio chan-
nels, and completes the billing information.
AMPS Control Channels
Each AMPS service includes 21 full-duplex 30-kHz control channels, consisting of
21 reverse control channels (RCCs) from subscriber to base station, and 21 forward
14.3 / SECOND-GENERATION CDMA
429
channels from base station to subscriber. These channels transmit digital data using
FSK. In both channels, data are transmitted in frames.
Control information can be transmitted over a voice channel during a conver-
sation. The mobile unit or the base station can insert a burst of data by turning off
the voice FM transmission for about 100 ms and replacing it with an FSK-encoded
message. These messages are used to exchange urgent messages, such as change
power level and handoff.
14.3
SECOND-GENERATION CDMA
This section begins with an overview and then looks in detail at one type of second-
generation cellular system.
First- and Second-Generation Cellular Systems
First-generation cellular networks, such as AMPS, quickly became highly popular,
threatening to swamp available capacity. Second-generation systems have been
developed to provide higher quality signals, higher data rates for support of digital
services, and greater capacity. [BLAC99b] lists the following as the key differences
between the two generations:
•
Digital traffic channels: The most notable difference between the two
generations is that first-generation systems are almost purely analog,
whereas second-generation systems are digital. In particular, the first-gen-
eration systems are designed to support voice channels using FM; digital
traffic is supported only by the use of a modem that converts the digital
data into analog form. Second-generation systems provide digital traffic
channels. These readily support digital data; voice traffic is first encoded in
digital form before transmitting. Of course, for second-generation systems,
the user traffic (data or digitized voice) must be converted to an analog
signal for transmission between the mobile unit and the base station (e.g.,
see Figure 5.15).
•
Encryption: Because all of the user traffic, as well as control traffic, is digitized
in second-generation systems, it is a relatively simple matter to encrypt all of
the traffic to prevent eavesdropping. All second-generation systems provide
this capability, whereas first-generation systems send user traffic in the clear,
providing no security.
•
Error detection and correction: The digital traffic stream of second-generation
systems also lends itself to the use of error detection and correction tech-
niques, such as those discussed in Chapter 6. The result can be very clear voice
reception.
•
Channel access: In first-generation systems, each cell supports a number of
channels. At any given time a channel is allocated to only one user. Second-
generation systems also provide multiple channels per cell, but each channel is
dynamically shared by a number of users using time division multiple access
(TDMA) or code division multiple access (CDMA). We look at CDMA-based
systems in this section.
430
CHAPTER 14 / CELLULAR WIRELESS NETWORKS
Beginning around 1990, a number of different second-generation systems
have been deployed. A good example is the IS-95 scheme using CDMA.
Code Division Multiple Access
CDMA for cellular systems can be described as follows. As with FDMA, each cell is
allocated a frequency bandwidth, which is split into two parts, half for reverse
(mobile unit to base station) and half for forward (base station to mobile unit). For
full-duplex communication, a mobile unit uses both reverse and forward channels.
Transmission is in the form of direct-sequence spread spectrum (DS-SS), which uses
a chipping code to increase the data rate of the transmission, resulting in an
increased signal bandwidth. Multiple access is provided by assigning orthogonal
chipping codes (defined in Chapter 9) to multiple users, so that the receiver can
recover the transmission of an individual unit from multiple transmissions.
CDMA has a number of advantages for a cellular network:
•
Frequency diversity: Because the transmission is spread out over a larger
bandwidth, frequency-dependent transmission impairments, such as noise
bursts and selective fading, have less effect on the signal.
•
Multipath resistance: In addition to the ability of DS-SS to overcome multipath
fading by frequency diversity, the chipping codes used for CDMA not only
exhibit low cross correlation but also low autocorrelation.3 Therefore, a ver-
sion of the signal that is delayed by more than one chip interval does not inter-
fere with the dominant signal as much as in other multipath environments.
•
Privacy: Because spread spectrum is obtained by the use of noiselike signals,
where each user has a unique code, privacy is inherent.
•
Graceful degradation: With FDMA or TDMA, a fixed number of users can
access the system simultaneously. However, with CDMA, as more users access
the system simultaneously, the noise level and hence the error rate increases; only
gradually does the system degrade to the point of an unacceptable error rate.
Two drawbacks of CDMA cellular should also be mentioned:
•
Self-jamming: Unless all of the mobile users are perfectly synchronized, the
arriving transmissions from multiple users will not be perfectly aligned on chip
boundaries. Thus the spreading sequences of the different users are not
orthogonal and there is some level of cross correlation. This is distinct from
either TDMA or FDMA, in which for reasonable time or frequency guard-
bands, respectively, the received signals are orthogonal or nearly so.
•
Near-far problem: Signals closer to the receiver are received with less attenuation
than signals farther away. Given the lack of complete orthogonality, the transmis-
sions from the more remote mobile units may be more difficult to recover.
Mobile Wireless CDMA Design Considerations
Before turning to the specific example of IS-95, it will be useful to consider some
general design elements of a CDMA cellular system.
3See Appendix J for a discussion of correlation and orthogonality.
14.3 / SECOND-GENERATION CDMA
431
RAKE Receiver In a multipath environment, which is common in cellular sys-
tems, if the multiple versions of a signal arrive more than one chip interval apart
from each other, the receiver can recover the signal by correlating the chip sequence
with the dominant incoming signal. The remaining signals are treated as noise. How-
ever, even better performance can be achieved if the receiver attempts to recover
the signals from multiple paths and then combine them, with suitable delays. This
principle is used in the RAKE receiver.
Figure 14.9 illustrates the principle of the RAKE receiver. The original binary
signal to be transmitted is spread by the exclusive-OR (XOR) operation with
the transmitter’s chipping code. The spread sequence is then modulated for
transmission over the wireless channel. Because of multipath effects, the chan-
nel generates multiple copies of the signal, each with a different amount of time
delay (
etc.), and each with a different attenuation factors (
etc.).
t1, t2,
a1, a2,
At the receiver, the combined signal is demodulated. The demodulated chip
stream is then fed into multiple correlators, each delayed by a different amount.
These signals are then combined using weighting factors estimated from the
channel.
Multipath channel
T
a
1
1
Binary
data
Modulator
T
a
2
2
Code
T
3
a
3
generator
RAKE receiver
c(t
T
1)
a
1
c(t
T
2)
Demodulator
a
2
c(t
T
3)
a
3
Figure 14.9
Principle of RAKE Receiver [PRAS98]
432
CHAPTER 14 / CELLULAR WIRELESS NETWORKS
Table 14.3
IS-95 Forward Link Channel Parameters
Channel
Sync
Paging
Traffic Rate Set 1
Traffic Rate Set 2
Data rate (bps)
1200
4800
9600
1200
2400
4800
9600
1800
3600
7200
14400
Code repetition
2
2
1
8
4
2
1
8
4
2
1
Modulation symbol
4800
19,200
19,200
19,200
19,200
19,200
19,200
19,200
19,200
19,200
19,200
rate (sps)
PN chips/modulation
symbol
256
64
64
64
64
64
64
64
64
64
64
PN chips/bit
1024
256
128
1024
512
256
128
682.67
341.33
170.67
85.33
IS-95
The most widely used second-generation CDMA scheme is IS-95, which is primarily
deployed in North America. The transmission structures on the forward and reverse
links differ and are described separately.
IS-95 Forward Link
Table 14.3 lists forward link channel parameters. The forward link consists of up
to 64 logical CDMA channels each occupying the same 1228-kHz bandwidth
(Figure 14.10a). The forward link supports four types of channels:
1.228 MHz
1.228 MHz
0
Pilot channel
1
Access channel
1
Paging channel
2
Access channel
7
Paging channel
8
Traffic channel 1
9
Traffic channel 2
32
Access channel
31
Traffic channel 24
1
Traffic channel
32
Synchronization channel
2
Traffic channel
33
Traffic channel 25
3
Traffic channel
63
Traffic channel 55
(a) Forward channels
62
Traffic channel
(b) Reverse channels
Figure 14.10
IS-95 Channel Structure
14.3 / SECOND-GENERATION CDMA
433
• Pilot (channel 0): A continuous signal on a single channel. This channel
allows the mobile unit to acquire timing information, provides phase refer-
ence for the demodulation process, and provides a means for signal strength
comparison for the purpose of handoff determination. The pilot channel
consists of all zeros.
• Synchronization (channel 32): A 1200-bps channel used by the mobile station
to obtain identification information about the cellular system (system time,
long code state, protocol revision, etc.).
• Paging (channels 1 to 7): Contain messages for one or more mobile stations.
• Traffic (channels 8 to 31 and 33 to 63): The forward channel supports
55 traffic channels. The original specification supported data rates of up
to 9600 bps. A subsequent revision added a second set of rates up to
14,400 bps.
Note that all of these channels use the same bandwidth. The chipping code is
used to distinguish among the different channels. For the forward channel, the chip-
ping codes are the 64 orthogonal 64-bit codes derived from a
matrix known
64 * 64
as the Walsh matrix (discussed in [STAL05]).
Figure 14.11 shows the processing steps for transmission on a forward traffic
channel using rate set 1. For voice traffic, the speech is encoded at a data rate of 8550
bps. After additional bits are added for error detection, the rate is 9600 bps. The full
channel capacity is not used when the user is not speaking. During quiet periods the
data rate is lowered to as low as 1200 bps. The 2400-bps rate is used to transmit tran-
sients in the background noise, and the 4800-bps rate is used to mix digitized speech
and signaling data.
The data or digitized speech is transmitted in 20-ms blocks with forward error
correction provided by a convolutional encoder with rate 1/2, thus doubling the
effective data rate to a maximum of 19.2 kbps. For lower data rates, the encoder
output bits (called code symbols) are replicated to yield the 19.2-kbps rate. The
data are then interleaved in blocks to reduce the effects of errors by spreading
them out.
Following the interleaver, the data bits are scrambled. The purpose of this is to
serve as a privacy mask and to prevent the sending of repetitive patterns, which in
turn reduces the probability of users sending at peak power at the same time. The
scrambling is accomplished by means of a long code that is generated as a pseudo-
random number from a 42-bit-long shift register. The shift register is initialized with
the user’s electronic serial number. The output of the long code generator is at a rate
of 1.2288 Mbps, which is 64 times the rate of 19.2 kbps, so only one bit in 64 is
selected (by the decimator function). The resulting stream is XORed with the out-
put of the block interleaver.
The next step in the processing inserts power control information in the traffic
channel, to control the power output of the antenna. The power control function of
the base station robs the traffic channel of bits at a rate of 800 bps. These are
inserted by stealing code bits. The 800-bps channel carries information directing the
mobile unit to increment, decrement, or keep stable its current output level. This
power control stream is multiplexed into the 19.2 kbps by replacing some of the
code bits, using the long code generator to encode the bits.
434
CHAPTER 14 / CELLULAR WIRELESS NETWORKS
Forward traffic channel
information bits
(172, 80, 40, or 16 b/frame)
Block
8.6 kbps
interleaver
4.0 kbps
2.0 kbps
19.2 ksps
0.8 kbps
Code
symbol
Add frame
Long code mask
quality indica-
for user m
tors for 9600 &
4800 bps rates
9.2 kbps
Long code
4.4 kbps
generator
2.0 kbps
0.8 kbps
1.2288 Mbps
Add 8-bit
19.2 kbps
encoder tail
Decimator
9.6 kbps
19.2 kbps
Power control
19.2 kbps
4.8 kbps
bits 800 bps
2.4 kbps
1.2 kbps
Decimator
Multiplexor
800 Hz
Convolutional
encoder
19.2 kbps
(n, k, K)
(2, 1, 9)
Walsh
19.2 kbps
9.6 kbps
Code
code n
PN chip
4.8 kbps
symbol
1.2288 Mbps
2.4 kbps
QPSK
Symbol
modulator
repetition
Code
19.2 ksps
Transmitted
symbol
signal
Figure 14.11
IS-95 Forward Link Transmission
The next step in the process is the DS-SS function, which spreads the
19.2 kbps to a rate of 1.2288 Mbps using one row of the
Walsh matrix.
64 * 64
One row of the matrix is assigned to a mobile station during call setup. If a 0 bit
is presented to the XOR function, then the 64 bits of the assigned row are sent.
If a 1 is presented, then the bitwise XOR of the row is sent. Thus, the final bit
rate is 1.2288 Mbps. This digital bit stream is then modulated onto the carrier
using a QPSK modulation scheme. Recall from Chapter 5 that QPSK involves
creating two bit streams that are separately modulated
(see Figure
5.11).
In the IS-95 scheme, the data are split into I and Q (in-phase and quadrature)
channels and the data in each channel are XORed with a unique short code.The
short codes are generated as pseudorandom numbers from a 15-bit-long shift
register.
14.3 / SECOND-GENERATION CDMA
435
Table 14.4
IS-95 Reverse Link Channel Parameters
Channel
Access
Traffic-Rate Set 1
Traffic-Rate Set 2
Data rate (bps)
4800
1200
2400
4800
9600
1800
3600
7200
14400
Code rate
1/3
1/3
1/3
1/3
1/3
1/2
1/2
1/2
1/2
Symbol rate before
14,400
3600
7200
14,400
28,800
3600
7200
14,400
28,800
repetition (sps)
Symbol repetition
2
8
4
2
1
8
4
2
1
Symbol rate after
28,800
28,800
28,800
28,800
28,800
28,800
28,800
28,800
28,800
repetition (sps)
Transmit duty cycle
1
1/8
1/4
1/2
1
1/8
1/4
1/2
1
Code symbols/
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
modulation symbol
PN chips/
256
256
256
256
256
256
256
256
256
modulation symbol
PN chips/bit
256
128
128
128
128
256/3
256/3
256/3
256/3
IS-95 Reverse Link
Table 14.4 lists reverse link channel parameters. The reverse link consists of up to
94 logical CDMA channels each occupying the same 1228-kHz bandwidth (Figure
14.10b). The reverse link supports up to 32 access channels and up to 62 traffic
channels.
The traffic channels in the reverse link are mobile unique. Each station has a
unique long code mask based on its electronic serial number. The long code mask is
a 42-bit number, so there are
different masks. The access channel is used by
242 - 1
a mobile to initiate a call, to respond to a paging channel message from the base sta-
tion, and for a location update.
Figure 14.12 shows the processing steps for transmission on a reverse traffic
channel using rate set 1. The first few steps are the same as for the forward chan-
nel. For the reverse channel, the convolutional encoder has a rate of 1/3, thus
tripling the effective data rate to a maximum of 28.8 kbps.The data are then block
interleaved.
The next step is a spreading of the data using the Walsh matrix. The way in
which the matrix is used, and its purpose, are different from that of the forward
channel. In the reverse channel, the data coming out of the block interleaver are
grouped in units of 6 bits. Each 6-bit unit serves as an index to select a row of the
Walsh matrix
and that row is substituted for the input. Thus the
64 * 64
126
= 642,
data rate is expanded by a factor of 64/6 to 307.2 kbps. The purpose of this encoding
is to improve reception at the base station. Because the 64 possible codings are
orthogonal, the block coding enhances the decision-making algorithm at the
receiver and is also computationally efficient (see [PETE95] for details). We can
view this Walsh modulation as a form of block error-correcting code with
and
In fact, all distances are 32.
dmin
1n, k2 = 164, 62
= 32.
The data burst randomizer is implemented to help reduce interference
from other mobile stations (see [BLAC99b] for a discussion). The operation
436
CHAPTER 14 / CELLULAR WIRELESS NETWORKS
Reverse traffic channel
information bits
(172, 80, 40, or 16 b/frame)
Block
8.6 kbps
interleaver
4.0 kbps
2.0 kbps
0.8 kbps
Code
28.8 ksps
symbol
Add frame
quality indica-
tors for 9600 &
4800 bps rates
64-ary
orthogonal
9.2 kbps
modulator
4.4 kbps
2.0 kbps
Modulation
0.8 kbps
4.8 ksps
symbol
(307.2 kcps)
(Walsh chip)
Add 8-bit
encoder tail
Data burst
9.6 kbps
randomizer
4.8 kbps
2.4 kbps
1.2 kbps
Convolutional
encoder
Long code
(n, k, K)
(3, 1, 9)
generator
PN chip
28.8 kbps
1.2288 Mbps
14.4 kbps
Code
7.2 kbps
symbol
3.6 kbps
Long code
mask
OQPSK
Symbol
modulator
repetition
Code
28.8 ksps
Transmitted
symbol
signal
Figure 14.12
IS-95 Reverse Link Transmission
involves using the long code mask to smooth the data out over each 20-ms
frame.
The next step in the process is the DS-SS function. In the case of the reverse
channel, the long code unique to the mobile is XORed with the output of the ran-
domizer to produce the 1.2288-Mbps final data stream. This digital bit stream is then
modulated onto the carrier using an offset QPSK modulation scheme. This differs
from the forward channel in the use of a delay element in the modulator (Figure
5.11) to produce orthogonality. The reason the modulators are different is that in the
forward channel, the spreading codes are orthogonal, all coming from the Walsh
matrix, whereas in the reverse channel, orthogonality of the spreading codes is not
guaranteed.
14.4 / THIRD-GENERATION SYSTEMS
437
14.4
THIRD-GENERATION SYSTEMS
The objective of the third generation (3G) of wireless communication is to provide
fairly high-speed wireless communications to support multimedia, data, and video in
addition to voice. The ITU’s International Mobile Telecommunications for the year
2000 (IMT-2000) initiative has defined the ITU’s view of third-generation capabili-
ties as
• Voice quality comparable to the public switched telephone network
• 144-kbps data rate available to users in high-speed motor vehicles over large
areas
• 384 kbps available to pedestrians standing or moving slowly over small areas
• Support (to be phased in) for 2.048 Mbps for office use
• Symmetrical and asymmetrical data transmission rates
• Support for both packet-switched and circuit-switched data services
• An adaptive interface to the Internet to reflect efficiently the common asym-
metry between inbound and outbound traffic
• More efficient use of the available spectrum in general
• Support for a wide variety of mobile equipment
• Flexibility to allow the introduction of new services and technologies
More generally, one of the driving forces of modern communication technology is
the trend toward universal personal telecommunications and universal communi-
cations access. The first concept refers to the ability of a person to identify
himself or herself easily and use conveniently any communication system in an
entire country, over a continent, or even globally, in terms of a single account.The
second refers to the capability of using one’s terminal in a wide variety of envi-
ronments to connect to information services (e.g., to have a portable terminal
that will work in the office, on the street, and on airplanes equally well). This
revolution in personal computing will obviously involve wireless communication
in a fundamental way.
Personal communications services (PCSs) and personal communication net-
works (PCNs) are names attached to these concepts of global wireless communica-
tions, and they also form objectives for third-generation wireless.
Generally, the technology planned is digital using time division multiple access
or code division multiple access to provide efficient use of the spectrum and high
capacity.
PCS handsets are designed to be low power and relatively small and light.
Efforts are being made internationally to allow the same terminals to be used
worldwide.
Alternative Interfaces
Figure 14.13 shows the alternative schemes that have been adopted as part of
IMT-2000. The specification covers a set of radio interfaces for optimized performance
438
CHAPTER 14 / CELLULAR WIRELESS NETWORKS
Radio interface
IMT-DS
IMT-MC
IMT-TC
IMT-SC
IMT-FT
Direct spread
Multicarrier
Time code
Single carrier
Frequency-time
(W-CDMA)
(cdma2000)
(TD-CDMA)
(TDD)
(DECT
)
CDMA-based
TDMA-based
FDMA-based
networks
networks
networks
Figure 14.13
IMT-2000 Terrestrial Radio Interfaces
in different radio environments. A major reason for the inclusion of five alterna-
tives was to enable a smooth evolution from existing first- and second-generation
systems.
The five alternatives reflect the evolution from the second generation. Two of
the specifications grow out of the work at the European Telecommunications Stan-
dards Institute (ETSI) to develop a UMTS (universal mobile telecommunications
system) as Europe’s 3G wireless standard. UMTS includes two standards. One of
these is known as wideband CDMA, or W-CDMA. This scheme fully exploits
CDMA technology to provide high data rates with efficient use of bandwidth.
Table 14.5 shows some of the key parameters of W-CDMA. The other European
effort under UMTS is known as IMT-TC, or TD-CDMA.This approach is a combi-
nation of W-CDMA and TDMA technology. IMT-TC is intended to provide an
upgrade path for the TDMA-based GSM systems.
Another CDMA-based system, known as cdma2000, has a North American
origin. This scheme is similar to, but incompatible with, W-CDMA, in part because
the standards use different chip rates. Also, cdma2000 uses a technique known as
multicarrier, not used with W-CDMA.
Two other interface specifications are shown in Figure 14.13. IMT-SC is pri-
marily designed for TDMA-only networks. IMT-FT can be used by both TDMA and
FDMA carriers to provide some 3G services; it is an outgrowth of the Digital Euro-
pean Cordless Telecommunications (DECT) standard.
CDMA Design Considerations
The dominant technology for 3G systems is CDMA. Although three different
CDMA schemes have been adopted, they share some common design issues.
[OJAN98] lists the following:
14.4 / THIRD-GENERATION SYSTEMS
439
Table 14.5
W-CDMA Parameters
Channel bandwidth
5 MHz
Forward RF channel structure
Direct spread
Chip rate
3.84 Mcps
Frame length
10 ms
Number of slots/frame
15
Spreading modulation
Balanced QPSK (forward)
Dual channel QPSK (reverse)
Complex spreading circuit
Data modulation
QPSK (forward)
BPSK (reverse)
Coherent detection
Pilot symbols
Reverse channel multiplexing
Control and pilot channel time multiplexed. I and Q multiplexing
for data and control channels
Multirate
Various spreading and multicode
Spreading factors
4 to 256
Power control
Open and fast closed loop (1.6 kHz)
Spreading (forward)
Variable length orthogonal sequences for channel separation.
Gold sequences 218 for cell and user separation.
Spreading (reverse)
Same as forward, different time shifts in I and Q channels.
• Bandwidth: An important design goal for all 3G systems is to limit channel
usage to 5 MHz.There are several reasons for this goal. On the one hand, a
bandwidth of 5 MHz or more improves the receiver’s ability to resolve
multipath when compared to narrower bandwidths. On the other hand,
available spectrum is limited by competing needs, and 5 MHz is a reason-
able upper limit on what can be allocated for 3G. Finally, 5 MHz is
adequate for supporting data rates of 144 and 384 kHz, the main targets for
3G services.
• Chip rate: Given the bandwidth, the chip rate depends on desired data rate,
the need for error control, and bandwidth limitations. A chip rate of 3 Mcps or
more is reasonable given these design parameters.
• Multirate: The term multirate refers to the provision of multiple fixed-data-
rate logical channels to a given user, in which different data rates are pro-
vided on different logical channels. Further, the traffic on each logical
channel can be switched independently through the wireless and fixed net-
works to different destinations. The advantage of multirate is that the sys-
tem can flexibly support multiple simultaneous applications from a given
user and can efficiently use available capacity by only providing the capac-
ity required for each service. Multirate can be achieved with a TDMA
scheme within a single CDMA channel, in which a different number of slots
per frame are assigned to achieve different data rates. All the subchannels
440
CHAPTER 14 / CELLULAR WIRELESS NETWORKS
Outer
Time
coding/
mux
interleaving
Outer
Time
coding/
mux
interleaving
Parallel
services
Time
mux
(a) Time multiplexing
Outer
coding/
interleaving
Outer
coding/
Parallel
interleaving
services
Outer
coding/
interleaving
(b) Code multiplexing
Figure 14.14
Time and Code Multiplexing Principles [OJAN98]
at a given data rate would be protected by error correction and interleaving
techniques (Figure 14.14a). An alternative is to use multiple CDMA codes,
with separate coding and interleaving, and map them to separate CDMA
channels (Figure 14.14b).
14.5 RECOMMENDED READING AND WEB SITES
[BERT94] and [ANDE95] are instructive surveys of cellular wireless propagation
effects. [BLAC99b] is one of the best technical treatments of second-generation cellular
systems.
[TANT98] contains reprints of numerous important papers dealing with CDMA in cel-
lular networks. [DINA98] provides an overview of both PN and orthogonal spreading codes
for cellular CDMA networks.
[OJAN98] provides an overview of key technical design considerations for 3G
systems. Another useful survey is
[ZENG00]. [PRAS00] is a much more detailed
analysis.
14.6 / KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
441
ANDE95
Anderson, J.; Rappaport, T.; and Yoshida, S. “Propagation Measurements and
Models for Wireless Communications Channels.” IEEE Communications Maga-
zine, January 1995.
BERT94
Bertoni, H.; Honcharenko, W.; Maciel, L.; and Xia, H. “UHF Propagation Predic-
tion for Wireless Personal Communications.” Proceedings of the IEEE, September 1994.
BLAC99b Black, U. Second-Generation Mobile and Wireless Networks. Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1999.
DINA98
Dinan, E., and Jabbari, B. “Spreading Codes for Direct Sequence CDMA and
Wideband CDMA Cellular Networks.” IEEE Communications Magazine, Septem-
ber 1998.
OJAN98
Ojanpera, T., and Prasad, G. “An Overview of Air Interface Multiple Access for
IMT-2000/UMTS.” IEEE Communications Magazine, September 1998.
PRAS00
Prasad, R.; Mohr, W.; and Konhauser, W., eds. Third-Generation Mobile Com-
munication Systems. Boston: Artech House, 2000.
TANT98
Tantaratana, S, and Ahmed, K., eds. Wireless Applications of Spread Spectrum
Systems: Selected Readings. Piscataway, NJ: IEEE Press, 1998.
ZENG00
Zeng, M.; Annamalai, A.; and Bhargava, V. “Harmonization of Global Third-
generation Mobile Systems. IEEE Communications Magazine, December 2000.
Recommended Web sites:
• Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association: An industry consortium
that provides information on successful applications of wireless technology.
• CDMA Development Group: Information and links for IS-95 and CDMA generally.
• 3G Americas: A trade group of Western Hemisphere companies supporting a variety
of second- and third-generation schemes. Includes industry news, white papers, and
other technical information.
14.6 KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
Key Terms
adaptive equalization
fast fading
reuse factor
Advanced Mobile Phone
flat fading
reverse channel
Service (AMPS)
first-generation (1G) network
scattering
base station
forward channel
second-generation (2G)
cellular network
frequency diversity
network
code division multiple access
frequency reuse
selective fading
(CDMA)
handoff
slow fading
diffraction
mobile radio
space diversity
diversity
power control
third-generation (3G)
fading
reflection
network
442
CHAPTER 14 / CELLULAR WIRELESS NETWORKS
Review Questions
14.1. What geometric shape is used in cellular system design?
14.2. What is the principle of frequency reuse in the context of a cellular network?
14.3. List five ways of increasing the capacity of a cellular system.
14.4. Explain the paging function of a cellular system.
14.5. What is fading?
14.6. What is the difference between diffraction and scattering?
14.7. What is the difference between fast and slow fading?
14.8. What is the difference between flat and selective fading?
14.9. What are the key differences between first- and second-generation cellular systems?
14.10. What are the advantages of using CDMA for a cellular network?
14.11. What are the disadvantages of using CDMA for a cellular network?
14.12. What are some key characteristics that distinguish third-generation cellular systems
from second-generation cellular systems?
Problems
14.1
Consider four different cellular systems that share the following characteristics. The
frequency bands are 825 to 845 MHz for mobile unit transmission and 870 to 890
MHz for base station transmission. A duplex circuit consists of one 30-kHz channel in
each direction. The systems are distinguished by the reuse factor, which is 4, 7, 12, and
19, respectively.
a. Suppose that in each of the systems, the cluster of cells (4, 7, 12, 19) is duplicated
16 times. Find the number of simultaneous communications that can be supported
by each system.
b. Find the number of simultaneous communications that can be supported by a sin-
gle cell in each system.
c. What is the area covered, in cells, by each system?
d. Suppose the cell size is the same in all four systems and a fixed area of 100 cells is
covered by each system. Find the number of simultaneous communications that
can be supported by each system.
14.2
Describe a sequence of events similar to that of Figure 14.6 for
a. a call from a mobile unit to a fixed subscriber
b. a call from a fixed subscriber to a mobile unit
14.3
An analog cellular system has a total of 33 MHz of bandwidth and uses two 25-kHz
simplex (one-way) channels to provide full duplex voice and control channels.
a. What is the number of channels available per cell for a frequency reuse factor of
(1) 4 cells, (2) 7 cells, and (3) 12 cells?
b. Assume that 1 MHz is dedicated to control channels but that only one control
channel is needed per cell. Determine a reasonable distribution of control channels
and voice channels in each cell for the three frequency reuse factors of part (a).
14.4
A cellular system uses FDMA with a spectrum allocation of 12.5 MHz in each direc-
tion, a guard band at the edge of the allocated spectrum of 10 kHz, and a channel
bandwidth of 30 kHz. What is the number of available channels?
14.5
For a cellular system, FDMA spectral efficiency is defined as
ha =
BcNT,
where
Bw
Bc = channel bandwidth
Bw = total bandwidth in one direction
NT = total number of voice channels in the covered area
What is an upper bound on ha?
14.6 / KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
443
14.6
Walsh codes are the most common orthogonal codes used in CDMA applications. A
set of Walsh codes of length n consists of the n rows of an
Walsh matrix. That is,
n * n
there are n codes, each of length n. The matrix is defined recursively as follows:
W1 = 102
W2n = aWn Wnb
W
n Wn
where n is the dimension of the matrix and the overscore denotes the logical NOT of
the bits in the matrix. The Walsh matrix has the property that every row is orthogonal
to every other row and to the logical NOT of every other row. Show the Walsh matri-
ces of dimensions 2, 4, and 8.
14.7
Demonstrate that the codes in an
8 * 8Walsh matrix are orthogonal to each other by
showing that multiplying any code by any other code produces a result of zero.
14.8
Consider a CDMA system in which users A and B have the Walsh codes
1-1 1 -1 1 -1 1 -1 12
and
1-1 -1 1 1 -1 -1 1 12,
respectively.
a. Show the output at the receiver if A transmits a data bit 1 and B does not transmit.
b. Show the output at the receiver if A transmits a data bit 0 and B does not transmit.
c. Show the output at the receiver if A transmits a data bit 1 and B transmits a data
bit 1. Assume the received power from both A and B is the same.
d. Show the output at the receiver if A transmits a data bit 0 and B transmits a data
bit 1. Assume the received power from both A and B is the same.
e. Show the output at the receiver if A transmits a data bit 1 and B transmits a data
bit 0. Assume the received power from both A and B is the same.
f. Show the output at the receiver if A transmits a data bit 0 and B transmits a data
bit 0. Assume the received power from both A and B is the same.
g. Show the output at the receiver if A transmits a data bit 1 and B transmits a data
bit 1. Assume the received power from B is twice the received power from A. This
can be represented by showing the received signal component from A as consist-
ing of elements of magnitude
and the received signal component from
11 + 1, - 12
B as consisting of elements of magnitude
21 + 2, - 22.
h. Show the output at the receiver if A transmits a data bit 0 and B transmits a data
bit 1. Assume the received power from B is twice the received power from A.
PART FOUR
Local Area Networks
he trend in local area networks (LANs) involves the use of shared trans-
mission media or shared switching capacity to achieve high data rates
T
over relatively short distances. Several key issues present themselves.
One is the choice of transmission medium. Whereas coaxial cable was com-
monly used in traditional LANs, contemporary LAN installations emphasize
the use of twisted pair or optical fiber. In the case of twisted pair, efficient
encoding schemes are needed to enable high data rates over the medium. Wire-
less LANs have also assumed increased importance. Another design issue is
that of access control.
ROAD MAP FOR PART FOUR
Chapter 15 Local Area Network Overview
The essential technology underlying all forms of LANs comprises
topology, transmission medium, and medium access control technique.
Chapter 15 examines the first two of these elements. Four topologies
are in common use: bus, tree, ring, and star.The most common transmis-
sion media for local networking are twisted pair
(unshielded and
shielded), coaxial cable (baseband and broadband), optical fiber, and
wireless (microwave and infrared). These topologies and transmission
media are discussed, with the exception of wireless, which is covered in
Chapter 17.
The increasing deployment of LANs has led to an increased need
to interconnect LANs with each other and with WANs. Chapter 15 also
discusses a key device used in interconnecting LANs: the bridge.
444
Chapter 16 High-Speed LANs
Chapter 16 looks in detail at the topologies, transmission media, and MAC
protocols of the most important LAN systems in current use; all of these
have been defined in standards documents. The most important of these is
Ethernet, which has been deployed in versions at 10 Mbps, 100 Mbps,
1 Gbps, and 10 Gbps. Then the chapter looks at Fibre Channel.
Chapter 17 Wireless LANs
Wireless LANs use one of three transmission techniques: spread spec-
trum, narrowband microwave, and infrared. Chapter 17 provides an
overview wireless LAN technology and applications. The most significant
set of standards defining wireless LANs are those defined by the IEEE
802.11 committee. Chapter 17 examines this set of standards in depth.
445
CHAPTER15
LOCAL AREA NETWORK OVERVIEW
15.1
Background
15.2
Topologies and Transmission Media
15.3
LAN Protocol Architecture
15.4
Bridges
15.5
Layer 2 and Layer 3 Switches
15.6
Recommended Reading and Web Site
15.7
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
446
The whole of this operation is described in minute detail in the official British Naval
History, and should be studied with its excellent charts by those who are interested in
its technical aspect. So complicated is the full story that the lay reader cannot see the
wood for the trees. I have endeavored to render intelligible the broad effects.
—The World Crisis, Winston Churchill
KEY POINTS
•
A LAN consists of a shared transmission medium and a set of hard-
ware and software for interfacing devices to the medium and regulat-
ing the orderly access to the medium.
•
The topologies that have been used for LANs are ring, bus, tree, and
star. A ring LAN consists of a closed loop of repeaters that allow data
to circulate around the ring. A repeater may also function as a device
attachment point. Transmission is generally in the form of frames. The
bus and tree topologies are passive sections of cable to which stations
are attached. A transmission of a frame by any one station can be
heard by any other station. A star LAN includes a central node to
which stations are attached.
•
A set of standards has been defined for LANs that specifies a range of
data rates and encompasses a variety of topologies and transmission
media.
•
In most cases, an organization will have multiple LANs that need to be
interconnected. The simplest approach to meeting this requirement is
the bridge.
•
Hubs and switches form the basic building blocks of most LANs.
We turn now to a discussion of local area networks (LANs). Whereas wide
area networks may be public or private, LANs usually are owned by the orga-
nization that is using the network to interconnect equipment. LANs have
much greater capacity than wide area networks, to carry what is generally a
greater internal communications load.
In this chapter we look at the underlying technology and protocol archi-
tecture of LANs. Chapters 16 and 17 are devoted to a discussion of specific
LAN systems.
447
448
CHAPTER 15 / LOCAL AREA NETWORK OVERVIEW
15.1
BACKGROUND
The variety of applications for LANs is wide. To provide some insight into the types
of requirements that LANs are intended to meet, this section provides a brief dis-
cussion of some of the most important general application areas for these networks.
Personal Computer LANs
A common LAN configuration is one that supports personal computers. With the
relatively low cost of such systems, individual managers within organizations often
independently procure personal computers for departmental applications, such as
spreadsheet and project management tools, and Internet access.
But a collection of department-level processors will not meet all of an orga-
nization’s needs; central processing facilities are still required. Some programs,
such as econometric forecasting models, are too big to run on a small computer.
Corporate-wide data files, such as accounting and payroll, require a centralized
facility but should be accessible to a number of users. In addition, there are other
kinds of files that, although specialized, must be shared by a number of users. Fur-
ther, there are sound reasons for connecting individual intelligent workstations
not only to a central facility but to each other as well. Members of a project or
organization team need to share work and information. By far the most efficient
way to do so is digitally.
Certain expensive resources, such as a disk or a laser printer, can be shared by
all users of the departmental LAN. In addition, the network can tie into larger cor-
porate network facilities. For example, the corporation may have a building-wide
LAN and a wide area private network. A communications server can provide con-
trolled access to these resources.
LANs for the support of personal computers and workstations have become
nearly universal in organizations of all sizes. Even those sites that still depend heav-
ily on the mainframe have transferred much of the processing load to networks of
personal computers. Perhaps the prime example of the way in which personal com-
puters are being used is to implement client/server applications.
For personal computer networks, a key requirement is low cost. In particular,
the cost of attachment to the network must be significantly less than the cost of the
attached device. Thus, for the ordinary personal computer, an attachment cost in the
hundreds of dollars is desirable. For more expensive, high-performance worksta-
tions, higher attachment costs can be tolerated.
Backend Networks and Storage Area Networks
Backend networks are used to interconnect large systems such as mainframes,
supercomputers, and mass storage devices. The key requirement here is for bulk
data transfer among a limited number of devices in a small area. High reliability is
generally also a requirement. Typical characteristics include the following:
• High data rate: To satisfy the high-volume demand, data rates of 100 Mbps or
more are required.
15.1 / BACKGROUND
449
• High-speed interface: Data transfer operations between a large host system
and a mass storage device are typically performed through high-speed parallel
I/O interfaces, rather than slower communications interfaces. Thus, the physi-
cal link between station and network must be high speed.
• Distributed access: Some sort of distributed medium access control (MAC)
technique is needed to enable a number of devices to share the transmission
medium with efficient and reliable access.
• Limited distance: Typically, a backend network will be employed in a com-
puter room or a small number of contiguous rooms.
• Limited number of devices: The number of expensive mainframes and mass
storage devices found in the computer room generally numbers in the tens of
devices.
Typically, backend networks are found at sites of large companies or research
installations with large data processing budgets. Because of the scale involved, a
small difference in productivity can translate into a sizable difference in cost.
Consider a site that uses a dedicated mainframe computer. This implies a fairly
large application or set of applications. As the load at the site grows, the existing
mainframe may be replaced by a more powerful one, perhaps a multiprocessor sys-
tem. At some sites, a single-system replacement will not be able to keep up; equip-
ment performance growth rates will be exceeded by demand growth rates. The
facility will eventually require multiple independent computers. Again, there are
compelling reasons for interconnecting these systems. The cost of system interrupt is
high, so it should be possible, easily and quickly, to shift applications to backup sys-
tems. It must be possible to test new procedures and applications without degrading
the production system. Large bulk storage files must be accessible from more than
one computer. Load leveling should be possible to maximize utilization and perfor-
mance.
It can be seen that some key requirements for backend networks differ from
those for personal computer LANs. High data rates are required to keep up with the
work, which typically involves the transfer of large blocks of data. The equipment
for achieving high speeds is expensive. Fortunately, given the much higher cost of
the attached devices, such costs are reasonable.
A concept related to that of the backend network is the storage area network
(SAN). A SAN is a separate network to handle storage needs. The SAN detaches
storage tasks from specific servers and creates a shared storage facility across a
high-speed network.The collection of networked storage devices can include hard
disks, tape libraries, and CD arrays. Most SANs use Fibre Channel, which is
described in Chapter 16. Figure 15.1 contrasts the SAN with the traditional server-
based means of supporting shared storage. In a typical large LAN installation, a
number of servers and perhaps mainframes each has its own dedicated storage
devices. If a client needs access to a particular storage device, it must go through
the server that controls that device. In a SAN, no server sits between the storage
devices and the network; instead, the storage devices and servers are linked
directly to the network. The SAN arrangement improves client-to-storage access
efficiency, as well as direct storage-to-storage communications for backup and
replication functions.
450
CHAPTER 15 / LOCAL AREA NETWORK OVERVIEW
Server
Server
Server
Server
Storage devices
Storage devices
Mainframe
Server
Mainframe
Server
(a) Server-based storage
(b) Storage area network
Figure 15.1
The Use of Storage Area Networks [HURW98]
High-Speed Office Networks
Traditionally, the office environment has included a variety of devices with low- to
medium-speed data transfer requirements. However, applications in today’s office
environment would overwhelm the limited speeds (up to 10 Mbps) of traditional
LAN. Desktop image processors have increased network data flow by an unprece-
dented amount. Examples of these applications include fax machines, document
image processors, and graphics programs on personal computers and workstations.
Consider that a typical page with 200 picture elements, or pels1 (black or white
points), per inch resolution (which is adequate but not high resolution) generates
3,740,000 bits
Even with
18.5 inches * 11 inches * 40,000 pels per square inch2.
compression techniques, this will generate a tremendous load. In addition, disk tech-
nology and price/performance have evolved so that desktop storage capacities of
multiple gigabytes are common. These new demands require LANs with high speed
that can support the larger numbers and greater geographic extent of office systems
as compared to backend systems.
Backbone LANs
The increasing use of distributed processing applications and personal computers has
led to a need for a flexible strategy for local networking. Support of premises-wide
data communications requires a networking service that is capable of spanning the dis-
tances involved and that interconnects equipment in a single (perhaps large) building
1A picture element, or pel, is the smallest discrete scanning-line sample of a facsimile system, which con-
tains only black-white information (no gray scales). A pixel is a picture element that contains gray-scale
information.
15.2 / TOPOLOGIES AND TRANSMISSION MEDIA
451
or a cluster of buildings. Although it is possible to develop a single LAN to intercon-
nect all the data processing equipment of a premises, this is probably not a practical
alternative in most cases. There are several drawbacks to a single-LAN strategy:
• Reliability: With a single LAN, a service interruption, even of short duration,
could result in a major disruption for users.
• Capacity: A single LAN could be saturated as the number of devices attached
to the network grows over time.
• Cost: A single LAN technology is not optimized for the diverse requirements
of interconnection and communication. The presence of large numbers of low-
cost microcomputers dictates that network support for these devices be pro-
vided at low cost. LANs that support very-low-cost attachment will not be
suitable for meeting the overall requirement.
A more attractive alternative is to employ lower-cost, lower-capacity LANs within
buildings or departments and to interconnect these networks with a higher-capacity
LAN.This latter network is referred to as a backbone LAN. If confined to a single build-
ing or cluster of buildings, a high-capacity LAN can perform the backbone function.
15.2
TOPOLOGIES AND TRANSMISSION MEDIA
The key elements of a LAN are
• Topology
• Transmission medium
• Wiring layout
• Medium access control
Together, these elements determine not only the cost and capacity of the LAN, but
also the type of data that may be transmitted, the speed and efficiency of communi-
cations, and even the kinds of applications that can be supported.
This section provides a survey of the major technologies in the first two of
these categories. It will be seen that there is an interdependence among the choices
in different categories. Accordingly, a discussion of pros and cons relative to specific
applications is best done by looking at preferred combinations. This, in turn, is best
done in the context of standards, which is a subject of a later section.
Topologies
In the context of a communication network, the term topology refers to the way in
which the end points, or stations, attached to the network are interconnected. The
common topologies for LANs are bus, tree, ring, and star (Figure 15.2). The bus is a
special case of the tree, with only one trunk and no branches.
Bus and Tree Topologies Both bus and tree topologies are characterized by the
use of a multipoint medium. For the bus, all stations attach, through appropriate hard-
ware interfacing known as a tap, directly to a linear transmission medium, or bus. Full-
duplex operation between the station and the tap allows data to be transmitted onto
Tap
Repeater
Terminating
Flow of data
resistance
(a) Bus
(c) Ring
Central hub, switch,
or repeater
Headend
(b) Tree
(d) Star
Figure 15.2
LAN Topologies
15.2 / TOPOLOGIES AND TRANSMISSION MEDIA
453
the bus and received from the bus. A transmission from any station propagates the
length of the medium in both directions and can be received by all other stations. At
each end of the bus is a terminator, which absorbs any signal, removing it from the bus.
The tree topology is a generalization of the bus topology. The transmission
medium is a branching cable with no closed loops. The tree layout begins at a point
known as the headend. One or more cables start at the headend, and each of these
may have branches. The branches in turn may have additional branches to allow
quite complex layouts. Again, a transmission from any station propagates through-
out the medium and can be received by all other stations.
Two problems present themselves in this arrangement. First, because a trans-
mission from any one station can be received by all other stations, there needs to be
some way of indicating for whom the transmission is intended. Second, a mechanism
is needed to regulate transmission. To see the reason for this, consider that if two sta-
tions on the bus attempt to transmit at the same time, their signals will overlap and
become garbled. Or consider that one station decides to transmit continuously for a
long period of time.
To solve these problems, stations transmit data in small blocks, known as
frames. Each frame consists of a portion of the data that a station wishes to transmit,
plus a frame header that contains control information. Each station on the bus is
assigned a unique address, or identifier, and the destination address for a frame is
included in its header.
Figure 15.3 illustrates the scheme. In this example, station C wishes to transmit
a frame of data to A. The frame header includes A’s address. As the frame propa-
gates along the bus, it passes B. B observes the address and ignores the frame. A, on
the other hand, sees that the frame is addressed to itself and therefore copies the
data from the frame as it goes by.
So the frame structure solves the first problem mentioned previously: It pro-
vides a mechanism for indicating the intended recipient of data. It also provides the
basic tool for solving the second problem, the regulation of access. In particular, the
stations take turns sending frames in some cooperative fashion. This involves
putting additional control information into the frame header, as discussed later.
With the bus or tree, no special action needs to be taken to remove frames
from the medium. When a signal reaches the end of the medium, it is absorbed by
the terminator.
Ring Topology In the ring topology, the network consists of a set of repeaters
joined by point-to-point links in a closed loop. The repeater is a comparatively sim-
ple device, capable of receiving data on one link and transmitting them, bit by bit, on
the other link as fast as they are received. The links are unidirectional; that is, data
are transmitted in one direction only, so that data circulate around the ring in one
direction (clockwise or counterclockwise).
Each station attaches to the network at a repeater and can transmit data onto
the network through the repeater. As with the bus and tree, data are transmitted in
frames. As a frame circulates past all the other stations, the destination station rec-
ognizes its address and copies the frame into a local buffer as it goes by. The frame
continues to circulate until it returns to the source station, where it is removed
(Figure 15.4). Because multiple stations share the ring, medium access control is
needed to determine at what time each station may insert frames.
454
CHAPTER 15 / LOCAL AREA NETWORK OVERVIEW
A
A
B
C
C transmits frame addressed to A
A
A
B
C
Frame is not addressed to B; B ignores it
A
A
B
C
A copies frame as it goes by
Figure 15.3
Frame Transmission on a Bus LAN
Star Topology In the star LAN topology, each station is directly connected to a
common central node. Typically, each station attaches to a central node via two
point-to-point links, one for transmission and one for reception.
In general, there are two alternatives for the operation of the central node.
One approach is for the central node to operate in a broadcast fashion. A trans-
mission of a frame from one station to the node is retransmitted on all of the out-
going links. In this case, although the arrangement is physically a star, it is logically
a bus: A transmission from any station is received by all other stations, and only
one station at a time may successfully transmit. In this case, the central element is
referred to as a hub. Another approach is for the central node to act as a frame-
switching device. An incoming frame is buffered in the node and then retransmit-
ted on an outgoing link to the destination station. These approaches are explored
in Section 15.5.
15.2 / TOPOLOGIES AND TRANSMISSION MEDIA
455
C
B
(a) C transmits frame
addressed to A
A
C
B
(b) Frame is not addressed
to B; B ignores it
A
C
B
(c) A copies frame
as it goes by
A
C
B
(d) C absorbs
returning frame
A
Figure 15.4
Frame Transmission on a Ring LAN
Choice of Topology The choice of topology depends on a variety of factors,
including reliability, expandability, and performance. This choice is part of the over-
all task of designing a LAN and thus cannot be made in isolation, independent of
the choice of transmission medium, wiring layout, and access control technique. A
few general remarks can be made at this point. There are four alternative media that
can be used for a bus LAN:
• Twisted pair: In the early days of LAN development, voice-grade twisted pair
was used to provide an inexpensive, easily installed bus LAN. A number of
systems operating at 1 Mbps were implemented. Scaling twisted pair up to
higher data rates in a shared-medium bus configuration is not practical, so this
approach was dropped long ago.
456
CHAPTER 15 / LOCAL AREA NETWORK OVERVIEW
• Baseband coaxial cable: A baseband coaxial cable is one that makes use of digi-
tal signaling. The original Ethernet scheme makes use of baseband coaxial cable.
• Broadband coaxial cable: Broadband coaxial cable is the type of cable used in
cable television systems. Analog signaling is used at radio and television fre-
quencies. This type of system is more expensive and more difficult to install
and maintain than baseband coaxial cable. This approach never achieved pop-
ularity and such LANs are no longer made.
• Optical fiber: There has been considerable research relating to this alternative
over the years, but the expense of the optical fiber taps and the availability of
better alternatives have resulted in the demise of this option as well.
Thus, for a bus topology, only baseband coaxial cable has achieved widespread
use, primarily for Ethernet systems. Compared to a star-topology twisted pair or
optical fiber installation, the bus topology using baseband coaxial cable is difficult to
work with. Even simple changes may require access to the coaxial cable, movement
of taps, and rerouting of cable segments. Accordingly, few if any new installations
are being attempted. Despite its limitations, there is a considerable installed base of
baseband coaxial cable bus LANs.
Very-high-speed links over considerable distances can be used for the ring
topology. Hence, the ring has the potential of providing the best throughput of any
topology. One disadvantage of the ring is that a single link or repeater failure could
disable the entire network.
The star topology takes advantage of the natural layout of wiring in a building.
It is generally best for short distances and can support a small number of devices at
high data rates.
Choice of Transmission Medium The choice of transmission medium is
determined by a number of factors. It is, we shall see, constrained by the topology of
the LAN. Other factors come into play, including
• Capacity: to support the expected network traffic
• Reliability: to meet requirements for availability
• Types of data supported: tailored to the application
• Environmental scope: to provide service over the range of environments
required
The choice is part of the overall task of designing a local network, which is
addressed in Chapter 16. Here we can make a few general observations.
Voice-grade unshielded twisted pair (UTP) is an inexpensive, well-understood
medium; this is the Category 3 UTP referred to in Chapter 4. Typically, office build-
ings are wired to meet the anticipated telephone system demand plus a healthy mar-
gin; thus, there are no cable installation costs in the use of Category 3 UTP.
However, the data rate that can be supported is generally quite limited, with the
exception of very small LAN. Category 3 UTP is likely to be the most cost-effective
for a single-building, low-traffic LAN installation.
Shielded twisted pair and baseband coaxial cable are more expensive than
Category 3 UTP but provide greater capacity. Broadband cable is even more expen-
sive but provides even greater capacity. However, in recent years, the trend has been
15.3 / LAN PROTOCOL ARCHITECTURE
457
toward the use of high-performance UTP, especially Category 5 UTP. Category 5
UTP supports high data rates for a small number of devices, but larger installations
can be supported by the use of the star topology and the interconnection of the
switching elements in multiple star-topology configurations. We discuss this point in
Chapter 16.
Optical fiber has a number of attractive features, such as electromagnetic iso-
lation, high capacity, and small size, which have attracted a great deal of interest. As
yet the market penetration of fiber LANs is low; this is primarily due to the high
cost of fiber components and the lack of skilled personnel to install and maintain
fiber systems. This situation is beginning to change rapidly as more products using
fiber are introduced.
15.3
LAN PROTOCOL ARCHITECTURE
The architecture of a LAN is best described in terms of a layering of protocols that
organize the basic functions of a LAN. This section opens with a description of the
standardized protocol architecture for LANs, which encompasses physical, medium
access control (MAC), and logical link control (LLC) layers. The physical layer
encompasses topology and transmission medium, and is covered in Section 15.2.
This section provides an overview of the MAC and LLC layers.
IEEE 802 Reference Model
Protocols defined specifically for LAN and MAN transmission address issues relat-
ing to the transmission of blocks of data over the network. In OSI terms, higher
layer protocols (layer 3 or 4 and above) are independent of network architecture
and are applicable to LANs, MANs, and WANs. Thus, a discussion of LAN protocols
is concerned principally with lower layers of the OSI model.
Figure 15.5 relates the LAN protocols to the OSI architecture (Figure 2.11).
This architecture was developed by the IEEE 802 LAN standards committee2 and
has been adopted by all organizations working on the specification of LAN stan-
dards. It is generally referred to as the IEEE 802 reference model.
Working from the bottom up, the lowest layer of the IEEE 802 reference model
corresponds to the physical layer of the OSI model and includes such functions as
• Encoding/decoding of signals
• Preamble generation/removal (for synchronization)
• Bit transmission/reception
In addition, the physical layer of the 802 model includes a specification of the trans-
mission medium and the topology. Generally, this is considered “below” the lowest
layer of the OSI model. However, the choice of transmission medium and topology
is critical in LAN design, and so a specification of the medium is included.
Above the physical layer are the functions associated with providing service to
LAN users. These include
2This committee has developed standards for a wide range of LANs. See Appendix D for details.
458
CHAPTER 15 / LOCAL AREA NETWORK OVERVIEW
OSI reference
model
Application
Presentation
IEEE 802
reference
Session
model
Upper-
Transport
layer
LLC service
protocols
access point
(LSAP)
Network
(
)
(
)
(
)
Logical link control
Data link
Medium access
control
Scope
of
IEEE 802
Physical
Physical
standards
Medium
Medium
Figure 15.5
IEEE 802 Protocol Layers Compared to OSI Model
• On transmission, assemble data into a frame with address and error detection
fields.
• On reception, disassemble frame, and perform address recognition and error
detection.
• Govern access to the LAN transmission medium.
• Provide an interface to higher layers and perform flow and error control.
These are functions typically associated with OSI layer 2. The set of functions
in the last bullet item are grouped into a logical link control (LLC) layer. The func-
tions in the first three bullet items are treated as a separate layer, called medium
access control (MAC). The separation is done for the following reasons:
• The logic required to manage access to a shared-access medium is not found in
traditional layer 2 data link control.
• For the same LLC, several MAC options may be provided.
Figure 15.6 illustrates the relationship between the levels of the architecture
(compare Figure 2.9). Higher-level data are passed down to LLC, which appends
Application data
Application layer
TCP
TCP layer
header
IP
IP layer
header
LLC
LLC layer
header
MAC
MAC
MAC layer
header
trailer
TCP segment
IP datagram
LLC protocol data unit
MAC frame
Figure 15.6
LAN Protocols in Context
460
CHAPTER 15 / LOCAL AREA NETWORK OVERVIEW
control information as a header, creating an LLC protocol data unit (PDU). This con-
trol information is used in the operation of the LLC protocol. The entire LLC PDU
is then passed down to the MAC layer, which appends control information at the
front and back of the packet, forming a MAC frame. Again, the control information
in the frame is needed for the operation of the MAC protocol. For context, the figure
also shows the use of TCP/IP and an application layer above the LAN protocols.
Logical Link Control
The LLC layer for LANs is similar in many respects to other link layers in common
use. Like all link layers, LLC is concerned with the transmission of a link-level PDU
between two stations, without the necessity of an intermediate switching node. LLC
has two characteristics not shared by most other link control protocols:
1. It must support the multiaccess, shared-medium nature of the link (this differs
from a multidrop line in that there is no primary node).
2. It is relieved of some details of link access by the MAC layer.
Addressing in LLC involves specifying the source and destination LLC users.
Typically, a user is a higher-layer protocol or a network management function in the
station. These LLC user addresses are referred to as service access points (SAPs), in
keeping with OSI terminology for the user of a protocol layer.
We look first at the services that LLC provides to a higher-level user, and then
at the LLC protocol.
LLC Services LLC specifies the mechanisms for addressing stations across the
medium and for controlling the exchange of data between two users. The operation
and format of this standard is based on HDLC. Three services are provided as alter-
natives for attached devices using LLC:
• Unacknowledged connectionless service: This service is a datagram-style ser-
vice. It is a very simple service that does not involve any of the flow- and error-
control mechanisms. Thus, the delivery of data is not guaranteed. However, in
most devices, there will be some higher layer of software that deals with relia-
bility issues.
• Connection-mode service: This service is similar to that offered by HDLC. A
logical connection is set up between two users exchanging data, and flow con-
trol and error control are provided.
• Acknowledged connectionless service: This is a cross between the previous
two services. It provides that datagrams are to be acknowledged, but no prior
logical connection is set up.
Typically, a vendor will provide these services as options that the customer can
select when purchasing the equipment. Alternatively, the customer can purchase
equipment that provides two or all three services and select a specific service based
on application.
The unacknowledged connectionless service requires minimum logic and is
useful in two contexts. First, it will often be the case that higher layers of software
will provide the necessary reliability and flow-control mechanism, and it is efficient
15.3 / LAN PROTOCOL ARCHITECTURE
461
to avoid duplicating them. For example, TCP could provide the mechanisms
needed to ensure that data is delivered reliably. Second, there are instances in
which the overhead of connection establishment and maintenance is unjustified or
even counterproductive (for example, data collection activities that involve the
periodic sampling of data sources, such as sensors and automatic self-test reports
from security equipment or network components). In a monitoring application, the
loss of an occasional data unit would not cause distress, as the next report should
arrive shortly. Thus, in most cases, the unacknowledged connectionless service is
the preferred option.
The connection-mode service could be used in very simple devices, such as ter-
minal controllers, that have little software operating above this level. In these cases,
it would provide the flow control and reliability mechanisms normally implemented
at higher layers of the communications software.
The acknowledged connectionless service is useful in several contexts. With the
connection-mode service, the logical link control software must maintain some sort
of table for each active connection, to keep track of the status of that connection. If
the user needs guaranteed delivery but there are a large number of destinations for
data, then the connection-mode service may be impractical because of the large num-
ber of tables required. An example is a process control or automated factory envi-
ronment where a central site may need to communicate with a large number of
processors and programmable controllers. Another use of this is the handling of
important and time-critical alarm or emergency control signals in a factory. Because
of their importance, an acknowledgment is needed so that the sender can be assured
that the signal got through. Because of the urgency of the signal, the user might not
want to take the time first to establish a logical connection and then send the data.
LLC Protocol The basic LLC protocol is modeled after HDLC and has similar
functions and formats. The differences between the two protocols can be summa-
rized as follows:
• LLC makes use of the asynchronous balanced mode of operation of HDLC, to
support connection-mode LLC service; this is referred to as type 2 operation.
The other HDLC modes are not employed.
• LLC supports an unacknowledged connectionless service using the unnum-
bered information PDU; this is known as type 1 operation.
• LLC supports an acknowledged connectionless service by using two new
unnumbered PDUs; this is known as type 3 operation.
• LLC permits multiplexing by the use of LLC service access points (LSAPs).
All three LLC protocols employ the same PDU format (Figure 15.7), which
consists of four fields. The DSAP (Destination Service Access Point) and SSAP
(Source Service Access Point) fields each contain a 7-bit address, which specify
the destination and source users of LLC. One bit of the DSAP indicates whether the
DSAP is an individual or group address. One bit of the SSAP indicates whether the
PDU is a command or response PDU. The format of the LLC control field is identi-
cal to that of HDLC (Figure 7.7), using extended (7-bit) sequence numbers.
For type 1 operation, which supports the unacknowledged connectionless ser-
vice, the unnumbered information (UI) PDU is used to transfer user data. There is
462
CHAPTER 15 / LOCAL AREA NETWORK OVERVIEW
MAC
MAC
Destination
Source
LLC PDU
CRC
frame
control
MAC address
MAC address
1 octet
1
1 or 2
Variable
LLC
DSAP
SSAP
LLC control
Information
PDU
LLC
I/G
DSAP value
C/R
SSAP value
address fields
I/G Individual/Group
C/R Command/Response
Figure 15.7
LLC PDU in a Generic MAC Frame Format
no acknowledgment, flow control, or error control. However, there is error detec-
tion and discard at the MAC level.
Two other PDUs are used to support management functions associated with
all three types of operation. Both PDUs are used in the following fashion. An LLC
entity may issue a command
XID or TEST. The receiving LLC entity
1C/R bit = 02
issues a corresponding XID or TEST in response. The XID PDU is used to
exchange two types of information: types of operation supported and window size.
The TEST PDU is used to conduct a loopback test of the transmission path between
two LLC entities. Upon receipt of a TEST command PDU, the addressed LLC
entity issues a TEST response PDU as soon as possible.
With type 2 operation, a data link connection is established between two LLC
SAPs prior to data exchange. Connection establishment is attempted by the type 2
protocol in response to a request from a user. The LLC entity issues a SABME
PDU3 to request a logical connection with the other LLC entity. If the connection
is accepted by the LLC user designated by the DSAP, then the destination LLC
entity returns an unnumbered acknowledgment (UA) PDU. The connection is
henceforth uniquely identified by the pair of user SAPs. If the destination LLC
user rejects the connection request, its LLC entity returns a disconnected mode
(DM) PDU.
Once the connection is established, data are exchanged using information
PDUs, as in HDLC. The information PDUs include send and receive sequence num-
bers, for sequencing and flow control. The supervisory PDUs are used, as in HDLC,
3This stands for Set Asynchronous Balanced Mode Extended. It is used in HDLC to choose ABM and to
select extended sequence numbers of seven bits. Both ABM and 7-bit sequence numbers are mandatory
in type 2 operation.
15.3 / LAN PROTOCOL ARCHITECTURE
463
for flow control and error control. Either LLC entity can terminate a logical LLC
connection by issuing a disconnect (DISC) PDU.
With type 3 operation, each transmitted PDU is acknowledged. A new (not
found in HDLC) unnumbered PDU, the Acknowledged Connectionless (AC)
Information PDU, is defined. User data are sent in AC command PDUs and must be
acknowledged using an AC response PDU. To guard against lost PDUs, a 1-bit
sequence number is used. The sender alternates the use of 0 and 1 in its AC com-
mand PDU, and the receiver responds with an AC PDU with the opposite number
of the corresponding command. Only one PDU in each direction may be outstand-
ing at any time.
Medium Access Control
All LANs and MANs consist of collections of devices that must share the network’s
transmission capacity. Some means of controlling access to the transmission
medium is needed to provide for an orderly and efficient use of that capacity. This is
the function of a medium access control (MAC) protocol.
The key parameters in any medium access control technique are where and
how. Where refers to whether control is exercised in a centralized or distributed
fashion. In a centralized scheme, a controller is designated that has the authority to
grant access to the network.A station wishing to transmit must wait until it receives
permission from the controller. In a decentralized network, the stations collectively
perform a medium access control function to determine dynamically the order in
which stations transmit.A centralized scheme has certain advantages, including
• It may afford greater control over access for providing such things as priori-
ties, overrides, and guaranteed capacity.
• It enables the use of relatively simple access logic at each station.
• It avoids problems of distributed coordination among peer entities.
The principal disadvantages of centralized schemes are
• It creates a single point of failure; that is, there is a point in the network that, if
it fails, causes the entire network to fail.
• It may act as a bottleneck, reducing performance.
The pros and cons of distributed schemes are mirror images of the points just
made.
The second parameter, how, is constrained by the topology and is a tradeoff
among competing factors, including cost, performance, and complexity. In general,
we can categorize access control techniques as being either synchronous or asyn-
chronous. With synchronous techniques, a specific capacity is dedicated to a connec-
tion. This is the same approach used in circuit switching, frequency division
multiplexing (FDM), and synchronous time division multiplexing (TDM). Such
techniques are generally not optimal in LANs and MANs because the needs of the
stations are unpredictable. It is preferable to be able to allocate capacity in an asyn-
chronous (dynamic) fashion, more or less in response to immediate demand. The
asynchronous approach can be further subdivided into three categories: round
robin, reservation, and contention.
464
CHAPTER 15 / LOCAL AREA NETWORK OVERVIEW
Round Robin With round robin, each station in turn is given the opportunity to
transmit. During that opportunity, the station may decline to transmit or may transmit
subject to a specified upper bound, usually expressed as a maximum amount of data
transmitted or time for this opportunity. In any case, the station, when it is finished,
relinquishes its turn, and the right to transmit passes to the next station in logical
sequence. Control of sequence may be centralized or distributed. Polling is an exam-
ple of a centralized technique.
When many stations have data to transmit over an extended period of time,
round-robin techniques can be very efficient. If only a few stations have data to
transmit over an extended period of time, then there is a considerable overhead in
passing the turn from station to station, because most of the stations will not trans-
mit but simply pass their turns. Under such circumstances other techniques may be
preferable, largely depending on whether the data traffic has a stream or bursty
characteristic. Stream traffic is characterized by lengthy and fairly continuous trans-
missions; examples are voice communication, telemetry, and bulk file transfer.
Bursty traffic is characterized by short, sporadic transmissions; interactive terminal-
host traffic fits this description.
Reservation For stream traffic, reservation techniques are well suited. In general,
for these techniques, time on the medium is divided into slots, much as with syn-
chronous TDM. A station wishing to transmit reserves future slots for an extended
or even an indefinite period. Again, reservations may be made in a centralized or
distributed fashion.
Contention For bursty traffic, contention techniques are usually appropriate. With
these techniques, no control is exercised to determine whose turn it is; all stations
contend for time in a way that can be, as we shall see, rather rough and tumble. These
techniques are of necessity distributed in nature. Their principal advantage is that
they are simple to implement and, under light to moderate load, efficient. For some
of these techniques, however, performance tends to collapse under heavy load.
Although both centralized and distributed reservation techniques have been
implemented in some LAN products, round-robin and contention techniques are
the most common.
MAC Frame Format The MAC layer receives a block of data from the LLC
layer and is responsible for performing functions related to medium access and for
transmitting the data. As with other protocol layers, MAC implements these func-
tions making use of a protocol data unit at its layer. In this case, the PDU is referred
to as a MAC frame.
The exact format of the MAC frame differs somewhat for the various MAC
protocols in use. In general, all of the MAC frames have a format similar to that of
Figure 15.7. The fields of this frame are
• MAC Control: This field contains any protocol control information needed for
the functioning of the MAC protocol. For example, a priority level could be
indicated here.
• Destination MAC Address: The destination physical attachment point on the
LAN for this frame.
15.4 / BRIDGES
465
• Source MAC Address: The source physical attachment point on the LAN for
this frame.
• LLC: The LLC data from the next higher layer.
• CRC: The Cyclic Redundancy Check field (also known as the frame check
sequence, FCS, field). This is an error-detecting code, as we have seen in
HDLC and other data link control protocols (Chapter 7).
In most data link control protocols, the data link protocol entity is responsible
not only for detecting errors using the CRC, but for recovering from those errors by
retransmitting damaged frames. In the LAN protocol architecture, these two func-
tions are split between the MAC and LLC layers. The MAC layer is responsible for
detecting errors and discarding any frames that are in error. The LLC layer option-
ally keeps track of which frames have been successfully received and retransmits
unsuccessful frames.
15.4
BRIDGES
In virtually all cases, there is a need to expand beyond the confines of a single LAN,
to provide interconnection to other LANs and to wide area networks.Two general
approaches are used for this purpose: bridges and routers.The bridge is the simpler
of the two devices and provides a means of interconnecting similar LANs. The
router is a more general-purpose device, capable of interconnecting a variety of
LANs and WANs. We explore bridges in this section and look at routers in Part
Five.
The bridge is designed for use between local area networks (LANs) that use
identical protocols for the physical and link layers (e.g., all conforming to IEEE
802.3). Because the devices all use the same protocols, the amount of processing
required at the bridge is minimal. More sophisticated bridges are capable of map-
ping from one MAC format to another (e.g., to interconnect an Ethernet and a
token ring LAN).
Because the bridge is used in a situation in which all the LANs have the same
characteristics, the reader may ask, why not simply have one large LAN? Depend-
ing on circumstance, there are several reasons for the use of multiple LANs con-
nected by bridges:
• Reliability: The danger in connecting all data processing devices in an organi-
zation to one network is that a fault on the network may disable communica-
tion for all devices. By using bridges, the network can be partitioned into
self-contained units.
• Performance: In general, performance on a LAN declines with an increase in
the number of devices or the length of the wire. A number of smaller LANs
will often give improved performance if devices can be clustered so that
intranetwork traffic significantly exceeds internetwork traffic.
• Security: The establishment of multiple LANs may improve security of com-
munications. It is desirable to keep different types of traffic (e.g., accounting,
466
CHAPTER 15 / LOCAL AREA NETWORK OVERVIEW
personnel, strategic planning) that have different security needs on physically
separate media. At the same time, the different types of users with different
levels of security need to communicate through controlled and monitored
mechanisms.
• Geography: Clearly, two separate LANs are needed to support devices clus-
tered in two geographically distant locations. Even in the case of two buildings
separated by a highway, it may be far easier to use a microwave bridge link
than to attempt to string coaxial cable between the two buildings.
Functions of a Bridge
Figure 15.8 illustrates the action of a bridge connecting two LANs, A and B, using
the same MAC protocol. In this example, a single bridge attaches to both LANs; fre-
quently, the bridge function is performed by two “half-bridges,” one on each LAN.
The functions of the bridge are few and simple:
• Read all frames transmitted on A and accept those addressed to any station on B.
• Using the medium access control protocol for B, retransmit each frame on B.
• Do the same for B-to-A traffic.
Several design aspects of a bridge are worth highlighting:
• The bridge makes no modification to the content or format of the frames it
receives, nor does it encapsulate them with an additional header. Each frame
to be transferred is simply copied from one LAN and repeated with exactly
the same bit pattern on the other LAN. Because the two LANs use the same
LAN protocols, it is permissible to do this.
• The bridge should contain enough buffer space to meet peak demands. Over a
short period of time, frames may arrive faster than they can be retransmitted.
• The bridge must contain addressing and routing intelligence. At a minimum,
the bridge must know which addresses are on each network to know which
frames to pass. Further, there may be more than two LANs interconnected by
a number of bridges. In that case, a frame may have to be routed through sev-
eral bridges in its journey from source to destination.
• A bridge may connect more than two LANs.
In summary, the bridge provides an extension to the LAN that requires no
modification to the communications software in the stations attached to the LANs.
It appears to all stations on the two (or more) LANs that there is a single LAN on
which each station has a unique address. The station uses that unique address and
need not explicitly discriminate between stations on the same LAN and stations on
other LANs; the bridge takes care of that.
Bridge Protocol Architecture
The IEEE 802.1D specification defines the protocol architecture for MAC bridges.
Within the 802 architecture, the endpoint or station address is designated at the
LAN A
Frames with
addresses 11 through
20 are accepted and
repeated on LAN B
Bridge
Station 1
Station 2
Station 10
Frames with
addresses 1 through
10 are accepted and
repeated on LAN A
LAN B
Station 11
Station 12
Station 20
Figure 15.8
Bridge Operation
468
CHAPTER 15 / LOCAL AREA NETWORK OVERVIEW
User
User
t1
t8
LLC
LLC
t2
t7
MAC
MAC
MAC
t3
t4
t5
t6
Physical
LAN
Physical
Physical
LAN
Physical
(a) Architecture
t1, t8
User data
t2, t7
LLC-H
User data
t3, t4, t5, t6
MAC-H
LLC-H
User data
MAC-T
(b) Operation
Figure 15.9
Connection of Two LANs by a Bridge
MAC level. Thus, it is at the MAC level that a bridge can function. Figure 15.9 shows
the simplest case, which consists of two LANs connected by a single bridge. The
LANs employ the same MAC and LLC protocols. The bridge operates as previously
described. A MAC frame whose destination is not on the immediate LAN is cap-
tured by the bridge, buffered briefly, and then transmitted on the other LAN. As far
as the LLC layer is concerned, there is a dialogue between peer LLC entities in the
two endpoint stations. The bridge need not contain an LLC layer because it is
merely serving to relay the MAC frames.
Figure 15.9b indicates the way in which data are encapsulated using a bridge.
Data are provided by some user to LLC. The LLC entity appends a header and
passes the resulting data unit to the MAC entity, which appends a header and a
trailer to form a MAC frame. On the basis of the destination MAC address in the
frame, it is captured by the bridge.The bridge does not strip off the MAC fields; its
function is to relay the MAC frame intact to the destination LAN. Thus, the frame
is deposited on the destination LAN and captured by the destination station.
The concept of a MAC relay bridge is not limited to the use of a single bridge
to connect two nearby LANs. If the LANs are some distance apart, then they can be
connected by two bridges that are in turn connected by a communications facility.
The intervening communications facility can be a network, such as a wide area
packet-switching network, or a point-to-point link. In such cases, when a bridge cap-
tures a MAC frame, it must encapsulate the frame in the appropriate packaging and
transmit it over the communications facility to a target bridge. The target bridge
strips off these extra fields and transmits the original, unmodified MAC frame to the
destination station.
Fixed Routing
There is a trend within many organizations to an increasing number of LANs inter-
connected by bridges. As the number of LANs grows, it becomes important to
15.4 / BRIDGES
469
provide alternate paths between LANs via bridges for load balancing and recon-
figuration in response to failure.Thus, many organizations will find that static, pre-
configured routing tables are inadequate and that some sort of dynamic routing is
needed.
Consider the configuration of Figure 15.10. Suppose that station 1 transmits a
frame on LAN A intended for station 6.The frame will be read by bridges 101, 102,
and 107. For each bridge, the addressed station is not on a LAN to which the bridge
is attached.Therefore, each bridge must make a decision whether or not to retrans-
mit the frame on its other LAN, in order to move it closer to its intended destina-
tion. In this case, bridge 102 should repeat the frame on LAN C, whereas bridges
101 and 107 should refrain from retransmitting the frame. Once the frame has been
transmitted on LAN C, it will be picked up by both bridges 105 and 106. Again,
each must decide whether or not to forward the frame. In this case, bridge 105
should retransmit the frame on LAN F, where it will be received by the destination,
station 6.
Thus we see that, in the general case, the bridge must be equipped with a
routing capability.When a bridge receives a frame, it must decide whether or not to
Station 1
Station 2
Station 3
LAN A
Bridge
Bridge
Bridge
101
107
102
LAN B
LAN C
Bridge
Bridge
Bridge
Bridge
103
104
105
106
LAN D
LAN E
LAN F
LAN G
Station 4
Station 5
Station 6
Station 7
Figure 15.10
Configuration of Bridges and LANs, with Alternate Routes
470
CHAPTER 15 / LOCAL AREA NETWORK OVERVIEW
forward it. If the bridge is attached to two or more networks, then it must decide
whether or not to forward the frame and, if so, on which LAN the frame should be
transmitted.
The routing decision may not always be a simple one. Figure 15.10 also shows
that there are two routes between LAN A and LAN E. Such redundancy provides
for higher overall Internet availability and creates the possibility for load balanc-
ing. In this case, if station 1 transmits a frame on LAN A intended for station 5 on
LAN E, then either bridge 101 or bridge 107 could forward the frame. It would
appear preferable for bridge 107 to forward the frame, since it will involve only one
hop, whereas if the frame travels through bridge 101, it must suffer two hops.
Another consideration is that there may be changes in the configuration.For exam-
ple, bridge 107 may fail, in which case subsequent frames from station 1 to station 5
should go through bridge 101. So we can say that the routing capability must take
into account the topology of the internet configuration and may need to be dynam-
ically altered.
A variety of routing strategies have been proposed and implemented in recent
years. The simplest and most common strategy is fixed routing. This strategy is suit-
able for small internets and for internets that are relatively stable. In addition, two
groups within the IEEE 802 committee have developed specifications for routing
strategies. The IEEE 802.1 group has issued a standard for routing based on the use
of a spanning tree algorithm. The token ring committee, IEEE 802.5, has issued its
own specification, referred to as source routing. In the remainder of this section, we
look at fixed routing and the spanning tree algorithm, which is the most commonly
used bridge routing algorithm.
For fixed routing, a route is selected for each source-destination pair of LANs
in the configuration. If alternate routes are available between two LANs, then typi-
cally the route with the least number of hops is selected. The routes are fixed, or at
least only change when there is a change in the topology of the internet.
The strategy for developing a fixed routing configuration for bridges is similar
to that employed in a packet-switching network (Figure 12.2). A central routing
matrix is created, to be stored perhaps at a network control center. The matrix
shows, for each source-destination pair of LANs, the identity of the first bridge on
the route. So, for example, the route from LAN E to LAN F begins by going through
bridge 107 to LAN A. Again consulting the matrix, the route from LAN A to LAN
F goes through bridge 102 to LAN C. Finally, the route from LAN C to LAN F is
directly through bridge 105. Thus the complete route from LAN E to LAN F is
bridge 107, LAN A, bridge 102, LAN C, bridge 105.
From this overall matrix, routing tables can be developed and stored at each
bridge. Each bridge needs one table for each LAN to which it attaches. The infor-
mation for each table is derived from a single row of the matrix. For example, bridge
105 has two tables, one for frames arriving from LAN C and one for frames arriving
from LAN F. The table shows, for each possible destination MAC address, the iden-
tity of the LAN to which the bridge should forward the frame.
Once the directories have been established, routing is a simple matter. A
bridge copies each incoming frame on each of its LANs. If the destination MAC
address corresponds to an entry in its routing table, the frame is retransmitted on
the appropriate LAN.
15.4 / BRIDGES
471
The fixed routing strategy is widely used in commercially available products. It
requires that a network manager manually load the data into the routing tables. It
has the advantage of simplicity and minimal processing requirements. However, in a
complex internet, in which bridges may be dynamically added and in which failures
must be allowed for, this strategy is too limited.
The Spanning Tree Approach
The spanning tree approach is a mechanism in which bridges automatically develop
a routing table and update that table in response to changing topology. The algo-
rithm consists of three mechanisms: frame forwarding, address learning, and loop
resolution.
Frame Forwarding In this scheme, a bridge maintains a forwarding database for
each port attached to a LAN. The database indicates the station addresses for which
frames should be forwarded through that port. We can interpret this in the following
fashion. For each port, a list of stations is maintained. A station is on the list if it is on
the “same side” of the bridge as the port. For example, for bridge 102 of Figure
15.10, stations on LANs C, F, and G are on the same side of the bridge as the LAN
C port, and stations on LANs A, B, D, and E are on the same side of the bridge as
the LAN A port. When a frame is received on any port, the bridge must decide
whether that frame is to be forwarded through the bridge and out through one of
the bridge’s other ports. Suppose that a bridge receives a MAC frame on port x. The
following rules are applied:
1. Search the forwarding database to determine if the MAC address is listed for
any port except port x.
2. If the destination MAC address is not found, forward frame out all ports except
the one from which is was received. This is part of the learning process described
subsequently.
3. If the destination address is in the forwarding database for some port y, then
determine whether port y is in a blocking or forwarding state. For reasons
explained later, a port may sometimes be blocked, which prevents it from receiv-
ing or transmitting frames.
4. If port y is not blocked, transmit the frame through port y onto the LAN to
which that port attaches.
Address Learning The preceding scheme assumes that the bridge is already
equipped with a forwarding database that indicates the direction, from the bridge, of
each destination station. This information can be preloaded into the bridge, as in
fixed routing. However, an effective automatic mechanism for learning the direction
of each station is desirable. A simple scheme for acquiring this information is based
on the use of the source address field in each MAC frame.
The strategy is this. When a frame arrives on a particular port, it clearly has
come from the direction of the incoming LAN. The source address field of the
frame indicates the source station. Thus, a bridge can update its forwarding data-
base for that port on the basis of the source address field of each incoming frame.
To allow for changes in topology, each element in the database is equipped with a
472
CHAPTER 15 / LOCAL AREA NETWORK OVERVIEW
timer. When a new element is added to the database, its timer is set. If the timer
expires, then the element is eliminated from the database, since the correspond-
ing direction information may no longer be valid. Each time a frame is received,
its source address is checked against the database. If the element is already in the
database, the entry is updated (the direction may have changed) and the timer is
reset. If the element is not in the database, a new entry is created, with its own
timer.
Spanning Tree Algorithm The address learning mechanism described previ-
ously is effective if the topology of the internet is a tree; that is, if there are no alter-
nate routes in the network. The existence of alternate routes means that there is a
closed loop. For example in Figure 15.10, the following is a closed loop: LAN A,
bridge 101, LAN B, bridge 104, LAN E, bridge 107, LAN A.
To see the problem created by a closed loop, consider Figure 15.11. At time
t0,
station A transmits a frame addressed to station B. The frame is captured by both
bridges. Each bridge updates its database to indicate that station A is in the direc-
tion of LAN X, and retransmits the frame on LAN Y. Say that bridge a retransmits
at time t and bridge b a short time later t. Thus B will receive two copies of the
1
2
frame. Furthermore, each bridge will receive the other’s transmission on LAN Y.
Note that each transmission is a frame with a source address of A and a destination
address of B. Thus each bridge will update its database to indicate that station A is in
Station B
LAN Y
t1
t2
Bridge
Bridge
A
B
t0
t0
LAN X
Station A
Figure 15.11
Loop of Bridges
15.5 / LAYER 2 AND LAYER 3 SWITCHES
473
the direction of LAN Y. Neither bridge is now capable of forwarding a frame
addressed to station A.
To overcome this problem, a simple result from graph theory is used: For any
connected graph, consisting of nodes and edges connecting pairs of nodes, there is a
spanning tree of edges that maintains the connectivity of the graph but contains no
closed loops. In terms of internets, each LAN corresponds to a graph node, and each
bridge corresponds to a graph edge. Thus, in Figure 15.10, the removal of one (and
only one) of bridges 107, 101, and 104, results in a spanning tree. What is desired is to
develop a simple algorithm by which the bridges of the internet can exchange suffi-
cient information to automatically (without user intervention) derive a spanning
tree. The algorithm must be dynamic. That is, when a topology change occurs, the
bridges must be able to discover this fact and automatically derive a new spanning
tree.
The spanning tree algorithm developed by IEEE 802.1, as the name sug-
gests, is able to develop such a spanning tree. All that is required is that each
bridge be assigned a unique identifier and that costs be assigned to each bridge
port. In the absence of any special considerations, all costs could be set equal; this
produces a minimum-hop tree. The algorithm involves a brief exchange of mes-
sages among all of the bridges to discover the minimum-cost spanning tree.
Whenever there is a change in topology, the bridges automatically recalculate the
spanning tree.
15.5
LAYER 2 AND LAYER 3 SWITCHES
In recent years, there has been a proliferation of types of devices for interconnecting
LANs that goes beyond the bridges discussed in Section 15.4 and the routers dis-
cussed in Part Five. These devices can conveniently be grouped into the categories
of layer 2 switches and layer 3 switches. We begin with a discussion of hubs and then
explore these two concepts.
Hubs
Earlier, we used the term hub in reference to a star-topology LAN. The hub is the
active central element of the star layout. Each station is connected to the hub by two
lines (transmit and receive). The hub acts as a repeater: When a single station trans-
mits, the hub repeats the signal on the outgoing line to each station. Ordinarily, the
line consists of two unshielded twisted pairs. Because of the high data rate and the
poor transmission qualities of unshielded twisted pair, the length of a line is limited
to about 100 m. As an alternative, an optical fiber link may be used. In this case, the
maximum length is about 500 m.
Note that although this scheme is physically a star, it is logically a bus: A trans-
mission from any one station is received by all other stations, and if two stations
transmit at the same time there will be a collision.
Multiple levels of hubs can be cascaded in a hierarchical configuration.
Figure
15.12
illustrates a two-level configuration. There is one header hub
(HHUB) and one or more intermediate hubs (IHUB). Each hub may have a
474
CHAPTER 15 / LOCAL AREA NETWORK OVERVIEW
HHUB
Two cables
(twisted pair or
optical fiber)
IHUB
IHUB
Station
Transmit
Receive
Station
Station
Station
Station
Figure 15.12
Two-Level Star Topology
mixture of stations and other hubs attached to it from below. This layout fits well
with building wiring practices.Typically, there is a wiring closet on each floor of an
office building, and a hub can be placed in each one. Each hub could service the
stations on its floor.
Layer 2 Switches
In recent years, a new device, the layer 2 switch, has replaced the hub in popularity,
particularly for high-speed LANs. The layer 2 switch is also sometimes referred to as
a switching hub.
To clarify the distinction between hubs and switches, Figure 15.13a shows a
typical bus layout of a traditional 10-Mbps LAN. A bus is installed that is laid out so
that all the devices to be attached are in reasonable proximity to a point on the bus.
In the figure, station B is transmitting. This transmission goes from B, across the lead
from B to the bus, along the bus in both directions, and along the access lines of each
of the other attached stations. In this configuration, all the stations must share the
total capacity of the bus, which is 10 Mbps.
A hub, often in a building wiring closet, uses a star wiring arrangement to
attach stations to the hub. In this arrangement, a transmission from any one station
is received by the hub and retransmitted on all of the outgoing lines. Therefore, to
avoid collision, only one station can transmit at a time. Again, the total capacity of
the LAN is 10 Mbps. The hub has several advantages over the simple bus arrange-
ment. It exploits standard building wiring practices in the layout of cable. In addi-
tion, the hub can be configured to recognize a malfunctioning station that is
15.5 / LAYER 2 AND LAYER 3 SWITCHES
475
Shared bus — 10 Mbps
A
B
C
D
(a) Shared medium bus
Total capacity
up to 10 Mbps
10 Mbps
10 Mbps
10 Mbps
10 Mbps
A
B
C
D
(b) Shared medium hub
Total capacity
N
10 Mbps
10 Mbps
10 Mbps
10 Mbps
10 Mbps
A
B
C
D
(c) Layer 2 switch
Figure 15.13
Lan Hubs and Switches
jamming the network and to cut that station out of the network. Figure 15.13b illus-
trates the operation of a hub. Here again, station B is transmitting. This transmission
goes from B, across the transmit line from B to the hub, and from the hub along the
receive lines of each of the other attached stations.
We can achieve greater performance with a layer 2 switch. In this case, the cen-
tral hub acts as a switch, much as a packet switch or circuit switch. With a layer 2
switch, an incoming frame from a particular station is switched to the appropriate
output line to be delivered to the intended destination. At the same time, other
unused lines can be used for switching other traffic. Figure 15.13c shows an example
in which B is transmitting a frame to A and at the same time C is transmitting a
frame to D. So, in this example, the current throughput on the LAN is 20 Mbps,
although each individual device is limited to 10 Mbps. The layer 2 switch has several
attractive features:
476
CHAPTER 15 / LOCAL AREA NETWORK OVERVIEW
1. No change is required to the software or hardware of the attached devices to
convert a bus LAN or a hub LAN to a switched LAN. In the case of an Ether-
net LAN, each attached device continues to use the Ethernet medium access
control protocol to access the LAN. From the point of view of the attached
devices, nothing has changed in the access logic.
2. Each attached device has a dedicated capacity equal to that of the entire original
LAN, assuming that the layer 2 switch has sufficient capacity to keep up with all
attached devices. For example, in Figure 15.13c, if the layer 2 switch can sustain a
throughput of 20 Mbps, each attached device appears to have a dedicated capac-
ity for either input or output of 10 Mbps.
3. The layer 2 switch scales easily. Additional devices can be attached to the layer
2 switch by increasing the capacity of the layer 2 switch correspondingly.
Two types of layer 2 switches are available as commercial products:
• Store-and-forward switch: The layer 2 switch accepts a frame on an input
line, buffers it briefly, and then routes it to the appropriate output line.
• Cut-through switch: The layer 2 switch takes advantage of the fact that the
destination address appears at the beginning of the MAC (medium access
control) frame. The layer 2 switch begins repeating the incoming frame onto
the appropriate output line as soon as the layer 2 switch recognizes the desti-
nation address.
The cut-through switch yields the highest possible throughput but at some risk
of propagating bad frames, because the switch is not able to check the CRC prior to
retransmission. The store-and-forward switch involves a delay between sender and
receiver but boosts the overall integrity of the network.
A layer 2 switch can be viewed as a full-duplex version of the hub. It can also
incorporate logic that allows it to function as a multiport bridge. [BREY99] lists the
following differences between layer 2 switches and bridges:
• Bridge frame handling is done in software. A layer 2 switch performs the
address recognition and frame forwarding functions in hardware.
• A bridge can typically only analyze and forward one frame at a time, whereas
a layer 2 switch has multiple parallel data paths and can handle multiple
frames at a time.
• A bridge uses store-and-forward operation. With a layer 2 switch, it is possible
to have cut-through instead of store-and-forward operation.
Because a layer 2 switch has higher performance and can incorporate the
functions of a bridge, the bridge has suffered commercially. New installations typi-
cally include layer 2 switches with bridge functionality rather than bridges.
Layer 3 Switches
Layer 2 switches provide increased performance to meet the needs of high-volume
traffic generated by personal computers, workstations, and servers. However, as the
number of devices in a building or complex of buildings grows, layer 2 switches
15.5 / LAYER 2 AND LAYER 3 SWITCHES
477
reveal some inadequacies. Two problems in particular present themselves: broadcast
overload and the lack of multiple links.
A set of devices and LANs connected by layer 2 switches is considered to have
a flat address space. The term flat means that all users share a common MAC broad-
cast address. Thus, if any device issues a MAC frame with a broadcast address, that
frame is to be delivered to all devices attached to the overall network connected by
layer 2 switches and/or bridges. In a large network, frequent transmission of broad-
cast frames can create tremendous overhead. Worse, a malfunctioning device can
create a broadcast storm, in which numerous broadcast frames clog the network and
crowd out legitimate traffic.
A second performance-related problem with the use of bridges and/or layer
2 switches is that the current standards for bridge protocols dictate that there be no
closed loops in the network. That is, there can only be one path between any two
devices. Thus, it is impossible, in a standards-based implementation, to provide mul-
tiple paths through multiple switches between devices. This restriction limits both
performance and reliability.
To overcome these problems, it seems logical to break up a large local network
into a number of subnetworks connected by routers. A MAC broadcast frame is
then limited to only the devices and switches contained in a single subnetwork. Fur-
thermore, IP-based routers employ sophisticated routing algorithms that allow the
use of multiple paths between subnetworks going through different routers.
However, the problem with using routers to overcome some of the inadequa-
cies of bridges and layer 2 switches is that routers typically do all of the IP-level
processing involved in the forwarding of IP traffic in software. High-speed LANs
and high-performance layer 2 switches may pump millions of packets per second,
whereas a software-based router may only be able to handle well under a million
packets per second.To accommodate such a load, a number of vendors have devel-
oped layer 3 switches, which implement the packet-forwarding logic of the router
in hardware.
There are a number of different layer 3 schemes on the market, but funda-
mentally they fall into two categories: packet by packet and flow based. The packet-
by-packet switch operates in the identical fashion as a traditional router. Because
the forwarding logic is in hardware, the packet-by-packet switch can achieve an
order of magnitude increase in performance compared to the software-based
router. A flow-based switch tries to enhance performance by identifying flows of IP
packets that have the same source and destination. This can be done by observing
ongoing traffic or by using a special flow label in the packet header (allowed in IPv6
but not IPv4). Once a flow is identified, a predefined route can be established
through the network to speed up the forwarding process. Again, huge performance
increases over a pure software-based router are achieved.
Figure 15.14 is a typical example of the approach taken to local networking in
an organization with a large number of PCs and workstations (thousands to tens of
thousands). Desktop systems have links of 10 Mbps to 100 Mbps into a LAN con-
trolled by a layer 2 switch. Wireless LAN connectivity is also likely to be available
for mobile users. Layer 3 switches are at the local network’s core, forming a local
backbone. Typically, these switches are interconnected at 1 Gbps and connect to
layer 2 switches at from 100 Mbps to 1 Gbps. Servers connect directly to layer 2 or
478
CHAPTER 15 / LOCAL AREA NETWORK OVERVIEW
Layer 3
switch
1
Gbps
WAN
Router
1
1
Gbps
Gbps
Layer 2
switch
Layer 3
switch
1
Gbps
Layer 2
Layer 2
switch
switch
11
Mbps
10/100
10/100
Mbps
Mbps
Laptop with
wireless connection
Figure 15.14
Typical Premises Network Configuration
layer 3 switches at 1 Gbps or possible 100 Mbps. A lower-cost software-based router
provides WAN connection. The circles in the figure identify separate LAN subnet-
works; a MAC broadcast frame is limited to its own subnetwork.
15.6 RECOMMENDED READING AND WEB SITE
The material in this chapter is covered in much more depth in [STAL00]. [REGA04] and
[FORO02] also provides extensive coverage. [METZ99] is an excellent treatment of layer 2
and layer 3 switches, with a detailed discussion of products and case studies. Another com-
prehensive account is [SEIF00].
15.7 / KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
479
FORO02
Forouzan, B., and Chung, S. Local Area Networks. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002.
METZ99
Metzler, J., and DeNoia, L. Layer 2 Switching. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pren-
tice Hall, 1999.
REGA04
Regan, P. Local Area Networks. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2004.
SEIF00
Seifert, R. The Switch Book. New York: Wiley, 2000.
STAL00
Stallings, W. Local and Metropolitan Area Networks, Sixth Edition. Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000.
Recommended Web site:
• IEEE 802 LAN/MAN Standards Committee: Status and documents for all of the
working groups
15.7 KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
Key Terms
bridge
local area network (LAN)
star topology
bus topology
logical link control
tree topology
hub
medium access control (MAC)
switch
layer 2 switch
ring topology
storage area networks (SAN)
layer 3 switch
spanning tree
Review Questions
15.1. How do the key requirements for computer room networks differ from those for per-
sonal computer local networks?
15.2. What are the differences among backend LANs, SANs, and backbone LANs?
15.3. What is network topology?
15.4. List four common LAN topologies and briefly describe their methods of operation.
15.5. What is the purpose of the IEEE 802 committee?
15.6. Why are there multiple LAN standards?
15.7. List and briefly define the services provided by LLC.
15.8. List and briefly define the types of operation provided by the LLC protocol.
15.9. List some basic functions performed at the MAC layer.
15.10. What functions are performed by a bridge?
15.11. What is a spanning tree?
15.12. What is the difference between a hub and a layer 2 switch?
15.13. What is the difference between a store-and forward switch and a cut-through switch?
480
CHAPTER 15 / LOCAL AREA NETWORK OVERVIEW
Problems
15.1
Instead of LLC, could HDLC be used as a data link control protocol for a LAN? If
not, what is lacking?
15.2
An asynchronous device, such as a teletype, transmits characters one at a time with
unpredictable delays between characters. What problems, if any, do you foresee if
such a device is connected to a LAN and allowed to transmit at will (subject to gain-
ing access to the medium)? How might such problems be resolved?
15.3
Consider the transfer of a file containing one million 8-bit characters from one station
to another. What is the total elapsed time and effective throughput for the following
cases:
a. A circuit-switched, star-topology local network. Call setup time is negligible and
the data rate on the medium is 64 kbps.
b. A bus topology local network with two stations a distance D apart, a data rate of
B bps, and a frame size of P with 80 bits of overhead per frame. Each frame is
acknowledged with an 88-bit frame before the next is sent. The propagation speed
on the bus is
200 m/ms.
Solve for:
1.
D = 1 km, B = 1 Mbps, P = 256 bits
2.
D = 1 km, B = 10 Mbps, P = 256 bits
3.
D = 10 km, B = 1 Mbps, P = 256 bits
4.
D = 1 km, B = 50 Mbps, P = 10,000 bits
c. A ring topology local network with a total circular length of 2D, with the two sta-
tions a distance D apart. Acknowledgment is achieved by allowing a frame to cir-
culate past the destination station, back to the source station, with an
acknowledgment bit set by the destination. There are N repeaters on the ring,
each of which introduces a delay of one bit time. Repeat the calculation for each
of b1 through b4 for
N = 10;
100; 1000.
15.4
Consider a baseband bus with a number of equally spaced stations with a data rate of
10 Mbps and a bus length of 1 km.
a. What is the mean time to send a frame of 1000 bits to another station, measured
from the beginning of transmission to the end of reception? Assume a propaga-
tion speed of
200 m/ms.
b. If two stations begin to transmit at exactly the same time, their packets will inter-
fere with each other. If each transmitting station monitors the bus during trans-
mission, how long before it notices an interference, in seconds? In bit times?
15.5
Repeat Problem 15.4 for a data rate of 100 Mbps.
15.6
At a propagation speed of
200 m/ms,
what is the effective length added to a ring by a
bit delay at each repeater?
a. At 1 Mbps
b. At 40 Mbps
15.7
A tree topology is to be provided that spans two buildings. If permission can be
obtained to string cable between the two buildings, one continuous tree layout will be
used. Otherwise, each building will have an independent tree topology network and a
point-to-point link will connect a special communications station on one network
with a communications station on the other network. What functions must the com-
munications stations perform? Repeat for ring and star.
15.8
System A consists of a single ring with 300 stations, one per repeater. System B con-
sists of three 100-station rings linked by a bridge. If the probability of a link failure is
a repeater failure is
and a bridge failure is
derive an expression for parts (a)
Pb ,
P
r,
P1,
through (d):
a. Probability of failure of system A
b. Probability of complete failure of system B
15.7 / KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
481
c. Probability that a particular station will find the network unavailable, for systems
A and B
d. Probability that any two stations, selected at random, will be unable to communi-
cate, for systems A and B
e. Compute values for parts (a) through (d) for
P1 = Pb = P
r
= 10-2.
15.9
Draw figures similar to Figure 15.9 for a configuration in which
a. Two LANs are connected via two bridges that are connected by a point-to-point link.
b. Two LANs are connected via two bridges that are connected by an X.25 packet-
switching network.
15.10
For the configuration of Figure 15.10, show the central routing matrix and the routing
tables at each bridge.
CHAPTER
16
HIGH-SPEED LANS
16.1
The Emergence of High-Speed LANS
16.2
Ethernet
16.3
Fibre Channel
16.4
Recommended Reading and Web Sites
16.5
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
Appendix 16A Digital Signal Encoding for LANS
Appendix 16B Performance Issues
Appendix 16C Scrambling
482
16.1 / THE EMERGENCE OF HIGH-SPEED LANS
483
Congratulations. I knew the record would stand until it was broken.
Yogi Berra
KEY POINTS
• The IEEE 802.3 standard, known as Ethernet, now encompasses
data rates of 10 Mbps, 100 Mbps, 1 Gbps, and 10 Gbps. For the lower
data rates, the CSMA/CD MAC protocol is used. For the 1-Gbps
and 10-Gbps options, a switched technique is used.
• Fibre Channel is a switched network of nodes designed to provide
high-speed linkages for such applications as storage area networks.
• A variety of signal encoding techniques are used in the various LAN
standards to achieve efficiency and to make the high data rates practical.
Recent years have seen rapid changes in the technology, design, and commercial
applications for local area networks (LANs). A major feature of this evolution is
the introduction of a variety of new schemes for high-speed local networking. To
keep pace with the changing local networking needs of business, a number of
approaches to high speed LAN design have become commercial products. The
most important of these are
• Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet: The extension of 10-Mbps CSMA/CD
(carrier sense multiple access with collision detection) to higher speeds is a
logical strategy because it tends to preserve the investment in existing systems.
• Fibre Channel: This standard provides a low-cost, easily scalable approach to
achieving very high data rates in local areas.
• High-speed wireless LANs: Wireless LAN technology and standards have at
last come of age, and high-speed standards and products are being introduced.
Table 16.1 lists some of the characteristics of these approaches. The remain-
der of this chapter fills in some of the details on Ethernet and Fibre Channel.
Chapter 17 covers wireless LANs.
16.1 THE EMERGENCE OF HIGH-SPEED LANS
Personal computers and microcomputer workstations began to achieve widespread
acceptance in business computing in the early 1980s and have now achieved the sta-
tus of the telephone: an essential tool for office workers. Until relatively recently,
office LANs provided basic connectivity services—connecting personal computers
484
CHAPTER 16 / HIGH-SPEED LANS
Table 16.1
Characteristics of Some High-Speed LANs
Fast Ethernet
Gigabit Ethernet
Fibre Channel
Wireless LAN
Data Rate
100 Mbps
1 Gbps, 10 Gbps
100 Mbps-3.2 Gbps
1 Mbps-54 Mbps
Transmission Media
UTP, STP,
UTP, shielded cable,
Optical fiber, coaxial
2.4-GHz, 5-GHz
optical Fiber
optical fiber
cable, STP
microwave
Access Method
CSMA/CD
Switched
Switched
CSMA/Polling
Supporting Standard
IEEE 802.3
IEEE 802.3
Fibre Channel
IEEE 802.11
Association
and terminals to mainframes and midrange systems that ran corporate applications,
and providing workgroup connectivity at the departmental or divisional level. In
both cases, traffic patterns were relatively light, with an emphasis on file transfer
and electronic mail. The LANs that were available for this type of workload, pri-
marily Ethernet and token ring, are well suited to this environment.
In recent years, two significant trends have altered the role of the personal
computer and therefore the requirements on the LAN:
• The speed and computing power of personal computers has continued to
enjoy explosive growth. Today’s more powerful platforms support graphics-
intensive applications and ever more elaborate graphical user interfaces to the
operating system.
• MIS organizations have recognized the LAN as a viable and indeed essential
computing platform, resulting in the focus on network computing. This trend
began with client/server computing, which has become a dominant architec-
ture in the business environment and the more recent intranetwork trend.
Both of these approaches involve the frequent transfer of potentially large
volumes of data in a transaction-oriented environment.
The effect of these trends has been to increase the volume of data to be han-
dled over LANs and, because applications are more interactive, to reduce the accept-
able delay on data transfers. The earlier generation of 10-Mbps Ethernets and
16-Mbps token rings are simply not up to the job of supporting these requirements.
The following are examples of requirements that call for higher-speed LANs:
• Centralized server farms: In many applications, there is a need for user, or
client, systems to be able to draw huge amounts of data from multiple central-
ized servers, called server farms. An example is a color publishing operation, in
which servers typically contain hundreds of gigabytes of image data that must
be downloaded to imaging workstations. As the performance of the servers
themselves has increased, the bottleneck has shifted to the network.
• Power workgroups: These groups typically consist of a small number of cooper-
ating users who need to draw massive data files across the network. Examples
are a software development group that runs tests on a new software version, or
a computer-aided design (CAD) company that regularly runs simulations of
new designs. In such cases, large amounts of data are distributed to several
workstations, processed, and updated at very high speed for multiple iterations.
16.2 / ETHERNET
485
• High-speed local backbone: As processing demand grows, LANs proliferate at
a site, and high-speed interconnection is necessary.
16.2
ETHERNET
The most widely used high-speed LANs today are based on Ethernet and were
developed by the IEEE 802.3 standards committee. As with other LAN standards,
there is both a medium access control layer and a physical layer, which are consid-
ered in turn in what follows.
IEEE 802.3 Medium Access Control
It is easier to understand the operation of CSMA/CD if we look first at some earlier
schemes from which CSMA/CD evolved.
Precursors CSMA/CD and its precursors can be termed random access, or con-
tention, techniques. They are random access in the sense that there is no predictable
or scheduled time for any station to transmit; station transmissions are ordered ran-
domly. They exhibit contention in the sense that stations contend for time on the
shared medium.
The earliest of these techniques, known as ALOHA, was developed for
packet radio networks. However, it is applicable to any shared transmission
medium. ALOHA, or pure ALOHA as it is sometimes called, specifies that a sta-
tion may transmit a frame at any time. The station then listens for an amount of
time equal to the maximum possible round-trip propagation delay on the network
(twice the time it takes to send a frame between the two most widely separated sta-
tions) plus a small fixed time increment. If the station hears an acknowledgment
during that time, fine; otherwise, it resends the frame. If the station fails to receive
an acknowledgment after repeated transmissions, it gives up. A receiving station
determines the correctness of an incoming frame by examining a frame check
sequence field, as in HDLC. If the frame is valid and if the destination address in
the frame header matches the receiver’s address, the station immediately sends an
acknowledgment.The frame may be invalid due to noise on the channel or because
another station transmitted a frame at about the same time. In the latter case, the
two frames may interfere with each other at the receiver so that neither gets
through; this is known as a collision. If a received frame is determined to be invalid,
the receiving station simply ignores the frame.
ALOHA is as simple as can be, and pays a penalty for it. Because the number
of collisions rises rapidly with increased load, the maximum utilization of the chan-
nel is only about 18%.
To improve efficiency, a modification of ALOHA, known as slotted ALOHA,
was developed. In this scheme, time on the channel is organized into uniform slots
whose size equals the frame transmission time. Some central clock or other tech-
nique is needed to synchronize all stations. Transmission is permitted to begin only
at a slot boundary. Thus, frames that do overlap will do so totally. This increases the
maximum utilization of the system to about 37%.
486
CHAPTER 16 / HIGH-SPEED LANS
Both ALOHA and slotted ALOHA exhibit poor utilization. Both fail to take
advantage of one of the key properties of both packet radio networks and LANs,
which is that propagation delay between stations may be very small compared to
frame transmission time. Consider the following observations. If the station-to-station
propagation time is large compared to the frame transmission time, then, after a sta-
tion launches a frame, it will be a long time before other stations know about it. Dur-
ing that time, one of the other stations may transmit a frame; the two frames may
interfere with each other and neither gets through. Indeed, if the distances are great
enough, many stations may begin transmitting, one after the other, and none of their
frames get through unscathed. Suppose, however, that the propagation time is small
compared to frame transmission time. In that case, when a station launches a frame, all
the other stations know it almost immediately. So, if they had any sense, they would
not try transmitting until the first station was done. Collisions would be rare because
they would occur only when two stations began to transmit almost simultaneously.
Another way to look at it is that a short propagation delay provides the stations with
better feedback about the state of the network; this information can be used to
improve efficiency.
The foregoing observations led to the development of carrier sense multiple
access (CSMA). With CSMA, a station wishing to transmit first listens to the
medium to determine if another transmission is in progress (carrier sense). If the
medium is in use, the station must wait. If the medium is idle, the station may trans-
mit. It may happen that two or more stations attempt to transmit at about the same
time. If this happens, there will be a collision; the data from both transmissions will
be garbled and not received successfully. To account for this, a station waits a rea-
sonable amount of time after transmitting for an acknowledgment, taking into
account the maximum round-trip propagation delay and the fact that the acknowl-
edging station must also contend for the channel to respond. If there is no acknowl-
edgment, the station assumes that a collision has occurred and retransmits.
One can see how this strategy would be effective for networks in which the
average frame transmission time is much longer than the propagation time. Colli-
sions can occur only when more than one user begins transmitting within a short
time interval (the period of the propagation delay). If a station begins to transmit a
frame, and there are no collisions during the time it takes for the leading edge of the
packet to propagate to the farthest station, then there will be no collision for this
frame because all other stations are now aware of the transmission.
The maximum utilization achievable using CSMA can far exceed that of
ALOHA or slotted ALOHA. The maximum utilization depends on the length of
the frame and on the propagation time; the longer the frames or the shorter the
propagation time, the higher the utilization.
With CSMA, an algorithm is needed to specify what a station should do if the
medium is found busy. Three approaches are depicted in Figure 16.1. One algorithm
is nonpersistent CSMA. A station wishing to transmit listens to the medium and
obeys the following rules:
1. If the medium is idle, transmit; otherwise, go to step 2.
2. If the medium is busy, wait an amount of time drawn from a probability distri-
bution (the retransmission delay) and repeat step 1.
16.2 / ETHERNET
487
Nonpersistent:
•Transmit if idle
Constant or variable delay
•If busy, wait random time
and repeat process
•If collision, back off
Channel busy
Time
Ready
P-Persistent:
•Transmit as soon as channel
goes idle with probability P
1-Persistent:
•Otherwise, delay one time slot
•Transmit as soon as
and repeat process
channel goes idle
•If collision, back off
•If collision, back off
Figure 16.1
CSMA Persistence and Backoff
The use of random delays reduces the probability of collisions. To see this, con-
sider that two stations become ready to transmit at about the same time while
another transmission is in progress; if both stations delay the same amount of time
before trying again, they will both attempt to transmit at about the same time. A
problem with nonpersistent CSMA is that capacity is wasted because the medium
will generally remain idle following the end of a transmission even if there are one
or more stations waiting to transmit.
To avoid idle channel time, the 1-persistent protocol can be used. A station
wishing to transmit listens to the medium and obeys the following rules:
1. If the medium is idle, transmit; otherwise, go to step 2.
2. If the medium is busy, continue to listen until the channel is sensed idle; then
transmit immediately.
Whereas nonpersistent stations are deferential, 1-persistent stations are self-
ish. If two or more stations are waiting to transmit, a collision is guaranteed. Things
get sorted out only after the collision.
A compromise that attempts to reduce collisions, like nonpersistent, and
reduce idle time, like 1-persistent, is p-persistent. The rules are as follows:
1. If the medium is idle, transmit with probability p, and delay one time unit with
probability
The time unit is typically equal to the maximum propaga-
11 - p2.
tion delay.
2. If the medium is busy, continue to listen until the channel is idle and repeat
step 1.
3. If transmission is delayed one time unit, repeat step 1.
The question arises as to what is an effective value of p. The main problem
to avoid is one of instability under heavy load. Consider the case in which n sta-
tions have frames to send while a transmission is taking place. At the end of the
488
CHAPTER 16 / HIGH-SPEED LANS
transmission, the expected number of stations that will attempt to transmit is
equal to the number of stations ready to transmit times the probability of trans-
mitting, or np. If np is greater than 1, on average multiple stations will attempt to
transmit and there will be a collision. What is more, as soon as all these stations
realize that their transmission suffered a collision, they will be back again,
almost guaranteeing more collisions. Worse yet, these retries will compete with
new transmissions from other stations, further increasing the probability of col-
lision. Eventually, all stations will be trying to send, causing continuous colli-
sions, with throughput dropping to zero. To avoid this catastrophe, np must be
less than one for the expected peaks of n; therefore, if a heavy load is expected
to occur with some regularity, p must be small. However, as p is made smaller,
stations must wait longer to attempt transmission.At low loads, this can result in
very long delays. For example, if only a single station desires to transmit, the
expected number of iterations of step 1 is 1/p (see Problem 16.2). Thus, if
p = 0.1, at low load, a station will wait an average of 9 time units before trans-
mitting on an idle line.
Description of CSMA/CD CSMA, although more efficient than ALOHA or
slotted ALOHA, still has one glaring inefficiency. When two frames collide, the
medium remains unusable for the duration of transmission of both damaged frames.
For long frames, compared to propagation time, the amount of wasted capacity can
be considerable. This waste can be reduced if a station continues to listen to the
medium while transmitting. This leads to the following rules for CSMA/CD:
1. If the medium is idle, transmit; otherwise, go to step 2.
2. If the medium is busy, continue to listen until the channel is idle, then transmit
immediately.
3. If a collision is detected during transmission, transmit a brief jamming signal to
assure that all stations know that there has been a collision and then cease trans-
mission.
4. After transmitting the jamming signal, wait a random amount of time, referred
to as the backoff, then attempt to transmit again (repeat from step 1).
Figure 16.2 illustrates the technique for a baseband bus. The upper part of
the figure shows a bus LAN layout. At time
station A begins transmitting
t0,
a packet addressed to D. At t1, both B and C are ready to transmit. B senses a
transmission and so defers. C, however, is still unaware of A’s transmission
(because the leading edge of A’s transmission has not yet arrived at C)
and begins its own transmission. When A’s transmission reaches C, at
C
t2,
detects the collision and ceases transmission. The effect of the collision propa-
gates back to A, where it is detected some time later, t3, at which time A ceases
transmission.
With CSMA/CD, the amount of wasted capacity is reduced to the time it takes
to detect a collision. Question: How long does that take? Let us consider the case of a
baseband bus and consider two stations as far apart as possible. For example, in Figure
16.2, suppose that station A begins a transmission and that just before that transmis-
sion reaches D, D is ready to transmit. Because D is not yet aware of A’s transmission,
16.2 / ETHERNET
489
A
B
C
D
TIME t0
A's transmission
C's transmission
Signal on bus
TIME t1
A's transmission
C's transmission
Signal on bus
TIME t2
A's transmission
C's transmission
Signal on bus
TIME t3
A's transmission
C's transmission
Signal on bus
Figure 16.2
CSMA/CD Operation
it begins to transmit. A collision occurs almost immediately and is recognized by D.
However, the collision must propagate all the way back to A before A is aware of the
collision. By this line of reasoning, we conclude that the amount of time that it takes
to detect a collision is no greater than twice the end-to-end propagation delay.
An important rule followed in most CSMA/CD systems, including the IEEE
standard, is that frames should be long enough to allow collision detection prior to the
end of transmission. If shorter frames are used, then collision detection does not occur,
and CSMA/CD exhibits the same performance as the less efficient CSMA protocol.
For a CSMA/CD LAN, the question arises as to which persistence algorithm to
use. You may be surprised to learn that the algorithm used in the IEEE 802.3 stan-
dard is 1-persistent. Recall that both nonpersistent and p-persistent have perfor-
mance problems. In the nonpersistent case, capacity is wasted because the medium
will generally remain idle following the end of a transmission even if there are sta-
tions waiting to send. In the p-persistent case, p must be set low enough to avoid
490
CHAPTER 16 / HIGH-SPEED LANS
instability, with the result of sometimes atrocious delays under light load. The 1-per-
sistent algorithm, which means, after all, that
would seem to be even more
p = 1,
unstable than p-persistent due to the greed of the stations. What saves the day is that
the wasted time due to collisions is mercifully short (if the frames are long relative to
propagation delay), and with random backoff, the two stations involved in a collision
are unlikely to collide on their next tries. To ensure that backoff maintains stability,
IEEE 802.3 and Ethernet use a technique known as binary exponential backoff. A
station will attempt to transmit repeatedly in the face of repeated collisions. For the
first 10 retransmission attempts, the mean value of the random delay is doubled. This
mean value then remains the same for 6 additional attempts. After 16 unsuccessful
attempts, the station gives up and reports an error. Thus, as congestion increases, sta-
tions back off by larger and larger amounts to reduce the probability of collision.
The beauty of the 1-persistent algorithm with binary exponential backoff is
that it is efficient over a wide range of loads. At low loads, 1-persistence guarantees
that a station can seize the channel as soon as it goes idle, in contrast to the non- and
p-persistent schemes. At high loads, it is at least as stable as the other techniques.
However, one unfortunate effect of the backoff algorithm is that it has a last-in first-
out effect; stations with no or few collisions will have a chance to transmit before
stations that have waited longer.
For baseband bus, a collision should produce substantially higher voltage
swings than those produced by a single transmitter. Accordingly, the IEEE standard
dictates that the transmitter will detect a collision if the signal on the cable at the
transmitter tap point exceeds the maximum that could be produced by the transmit-
ter alone. Because a transmitted signal attenuates as it propagates, there is a poten-
tial problem: If two stations far apart are transmitting, each station will receive a
greatly attenuated signal from the other. The signal strength could be so small that
when it is added to the transmitted signal at the transmitter tap point, the combined
signal does not exceed the CD threshold. For this reason, among others, the IEEE
standard restricts the maximum length of coaxial cable to 500 m for 10BASE5 and
200 m for 10BASE2.
A much simpler collision detection scheme is possible with the twisted-pair
star-topology approach (Figure 15.12). In this case, collision detection is based on
logic rather than sensing voltage magnitudes. For any hub, if there is activity (signal)
on more than one input, a collision is assumed. A special signal called the collision
presence signal is generated. This signal is generated and sent out as long as activity
is sensed on any of the input lines. This signal is interpreted by every node as an
occurrence of a collision.
MAC Frame Figure 16.3 depicts the frame format for the 802.3 protocol. It con-
sists of the following fields:
• Preamble: A 7-octet pattern of alternating 0s and 1s used by the receiver to
establish bit synchronization.
• Start Frame Delimiter (SFD): The sequence 10101011, which indicates the
actual start of the frame and enables the receiver to locate the first bit of the
rest of the frame.
• Destination Address (DA): Specifies the station(s) for which the frame is
intended. It may be a unique physical address, a group address, or a global address.
46 to 1500 octets
7 octets
1
6
6
2
0
0
4
S
P
Preamble
F
DA
SA
Length
LLC data
a
FCS
D
d
SFD = Start of frame delimiter
DA = Destination address
SA
= Source address
FCS = Frame check sequence
Figure 16.3
IEEE 802.3 Frame Format
492
CHAPTER 16 / HIGH-SPEED LANS
• Source Address (SA): Specifies the station that sent the frame.
• Length/Type: Length of LLC data field in octets, or Ethernet Type field,
depending on whether the frame conforms to the IEEE 802.3 standard or the
earlier Ethernet specification. In either case, the maximum frame size, exclud-
ing the Preamble and SFD, is 1518 octets.
• LLC Data: Data unit supplied by LLC.
• Pad: Octets added to ensure that the frame is long enough for proper CD
operation.
• Frame Check Sequence (FCS): A 32-bit cyclic redundancy check, based on all
fields except preamble, SFD, and FCS.
IEEE 802.3 10-Mbps Specifications (Ethernet)
The IEEE 802.3 committee has defined a number of alternative physical configura-
tions. This is both good and bad. On the good side, the standard has been responsive
to evolving technology. On the bad side, the customer, not to mention the potential
vendor, is faced with a bewildering array of options. However, the committee has
been at pains to ensure that the various options can be easily integrated into a con-
figuration that satisfies a variety of needs. Thus, the user that has a complex set of
requirements may find the flexibility and variety of the 802.3 standard to be an asset.
To distinguish the various implementations that are available, the committee
has developed a concise notation:
6data rate in Mbps6signaling method7maximum segment length in
hundreds of meters7
The defined alternatives for 10-Mbps are as follows:1
• 10BASE5: Specifies the use of 50-ohm coaxial cable and Manchester digital sig-
naling.2 The maximum length of a cable segment is set at 500 meters. The length
of the network can be extended by the use of repeaters. A repeater is transpar-
ent to the MAC level; as it does no buffering, it does not isolate one segment
from another. So, for example, if two stations on different segments attempt to
transmit at the same time, their transmissions will collide. To avoid looping, only
one path of segments and repeaters is allowed between any two stations. The
standard allows a maximum of four repeaters in the path between any two
stations, extending the effective length of the medium to 2.5 kilometers.
• 10BASE2: Similar to 10BASE5 but uses a thinner cable, which supports fewer
taps over a shorter distance than the 10BASE5 cable. This is a lower-cost alter-
native to 10BASE5.
• 10BASE-T: Uses unshielded twisted pair in a star-shaped topology. Because of
the high data rate and the poor transmission qualities of unshielded twisted-
pair, the length of a link is limited to 100 meters. As an alternative, an optical
fiber link may be used. In this case, the maximum length is 500 m.
1There is also a 10BROAD36 option, specifying a 10-Mbps broadband bus; this option is rarely used.
2See Section 5.1.
16.2 / ETHERNET
493
Table 16.2
IEEE 802.3 10-Mbps Physical Layer Medium Alternatives
10BASE5
10BASE2
10BASE-T
10BASE-FP
Transmission medium
Coaxial cable
Coaxial cable
Unshielded
850-nm optical
(50 ohm)
(50 ohm)
twisted pair
fiber pair
Signaling technique
Baseband
Baseband
Baseband
Manchester/
(Manchester)
(Manchester)
(Manchester)
on-off
Topology
Bus
Bus
Star
Star
Maximum segment length (m)
500
185
100
500
Nodes per segment
100
30
—
33
Cable diameter (mm)
10
5
0.4 to 0.6
62.5/125 mm
• 10BASE-F: Contains three specifications: a passive-star topology for intercon-
necting stations and repeaters with up to 1 km per segment; a point-to-point
link that can be used to connect stations or repeaters at up to 2 km; a point-to-
point link that can be used to connect repeaters at up to 2 km.
Note that 10BASE-T and 10-BASE-F do not quite follow the notation: “T”
stands for twisted pair and “F” stands for optical fiber. Table 16.2 summarizes the
remaining options. All of the alternatives listed in the table specify a data rate of
10 Mbps.
IEEE 802.3 100-Mbps Specifications (Fast Ethernet)
Fast Ethernet refers to a set of specifications developed by the IEEE 802.3
committee to provide a low-cost, Ethernet-compatible LAN operating at
100 Mbps. The blanket designation for these standards is 100BASE-T. The com-
mittee defined a number of alternatives to be used with different transmission
media.
Table 16.3 summarizes key characteristics of the 100BASE-T options. All of
the 100BASE-T options use the IEEE 802.3 MAC protocol and frame format.
100BASE-X refers to a set of options that use two physical links between nodes; one
for transmission and one for reception. 100BASE-TX makes use of shielded twisted
pair (STP) or high-quality (Category 5) unshielded twisted pair (UTP). 100BASE-
FX uses optical fiber.
In many buildings, any of the 100BASE-X options requires the installation
of new cable. For such cases, 100BASE-T4 defines a lower-cost alternative that can
use Category 3, voice-grade UTP in addition to the higher-quality Category 5
UTP.3 To achieve the 100-Mbps data rate over lower-quality cable, 100BASE-T4 dic-
tates the use of four twisted-pair lines between nodes, with the data transmission mak-
ing use of three pairs in one direction at a time.
For all of the 100BASE-T options, the topology is similar to that of 10BASE-T,
namely a star-wire topology.
3See Chapter 4 for a discussion of Category 3 and Category 5 cable.
494
CHAPTER 16 / HIGH-SPEED LANS
Table 16.3
IEEE 802.3 100BASE-T Physical Layer Medium Alternatives
100BASE-TX
100BASE-FX
100BASE-T4
Transmission medium
2 pair, STP
2 pair, Category
2 optical fibers
4 pair, Category
5 UTP
3, 4, or 5 UTP
Signaling technique
MLT-3
MLT-3
4B5B, NRZI
8B6T, NRZ
Data rate
100 Mbps
100 Mbps
100 Mbps
100 Mbps
Maximum segment length
100 m
100 m
100 m
100 m
Network span
200 m
200 m
400 m
200 m
100BASE-X For all of the transmission media specified under 100BASE-X, a uni-
directional data rate of 100 Mbps is achieved transmitting over a single link (single
twisted pair, single optical fiber). For all of these media, an efficient and effective sig-
nal encoding scheme is required. The one chosen is referred to as 4B/5B-NRZI. This
scheme is further modified for each option. See Appendix 16A for a description.
The 100BASE-X designation includes two physical medium specifications,
one for twisted pair, known as 100BASE-TX, and one for optical fiber, known as
100-BASE-FX.
100BASE-TX makes use of two pairs of twisted-pair cable, one pair used for
transmission and one for reception. Both STP and Category 5 UTP are allowed. The
MTL-3 signaling scheme is used (described in Appendix 16A).
100BASE-FX makes use of two optical fiber cables, one for transmission and
one for reception. With 100BASE-FX, a means is needed to convert the 4B/5B-NRZI
code group stream into optical signals. The technique used is known as intensity mod-
ulation. A binary 1 is represented by a burst or pulse of light; a binary 0 is represented
by either the absence of a light pulse or a light pulse at very low intensity.
100BASE-T4 100BASE-T4 is designed to produce a 100-Mbps data rate over
lower-quality Category 3 cable, thus taking advantage of the large installed base of
Category 3 cable in office buildings. The specification also indicates that the use of
Category 5 cable is optional. 100BASE-T4 does not transmit a continuous signal
between packets, which makes it useful in battery-powered applications.
For 100BASE-T4 using voice-grade Category 3 cable, it is not reasonable to
expect to achieve 100 Mbps on a single twisted pair. Instead, 100BASE-T4 specifies
that the data stream to be transmitted is split up into three separate data streams,
each with an effective data rate of
Four twisted pairs are used. Data are
331
3Mbps.
transmitted using three pairs and received using three pairs. Thus, two of the pairs
must be configured for bidirectional transmission.
As with 100BASE-X, a simple NRZ encoding scheme is not used for
100BASE-T4. This would require a signaling rate of 33 Mbps on each twisted pair
and does not provide synchronization. Instead, a ternary signaling scheme known as
8B6T is used (described in Appendix 16A).
Full-Duplex Operation A traditional Ethernet is half duplex: a station can
either transmit or receive a frame, but it cannot do both simultaneously. With
full-duplex operation, a station can transmit and receive simultaneously. If a
16.2 / ETHERNET
495
100-Mbps Ethernet ran in full-duplex mode, the theoretical transfer rate
becomes 200 Mbps.
Several changes are needed to operate in full-duplex mode. The attached sta-
tions must have full-duplex rather than half-duplex adapter cards. The central point
in the star wire cannot be a simple multiport repeater but rather must be a switching
hub. In this case each station constitutes a separate collision domain. In fact, there
are no collisions and the CSMA/CD algorithm is no longer needed. However, the
same 802.3 MAC frame format is used and the attached stations can continue to
execute the CSMA/CD algorithm, even though no collisions can ever be detected.
Mixed Configuration One of the strengths of the Fast Ethernet approach is
that it readily supports a mixture of existing 10-Mbps LANs and newer 100-Mbps
LANs. For example, the 100-Mbps technology can be used as a backbone LAN to
support a number of 10-Mbps hubs. Many of the stations attach to 10-Mbps hubs
using the 10BASE-T standard. These hubs are in turn connected to switching
hubs that conform to 100BASE-T and that can support both 10-Mbps and 100-
Mbps links. Additional high-capacity workstations and servers attach directly to
these 10/100 switches. These mixed-capacity switches are in turn connected to
100-Mbps hubs using 100-Mbps links. The 100-Mbps hubs provide a building
backbone and are also connected to a router that provides connection to an out-
side WAN.
Gigabit Ethernet
In late 1995, the IEEE 802.3 committee formed a High-Speed Study Group to
investigate means for conveying packets in Ethernet format at speeds in the giga-
bits per second range. The strategy for Gigabit Ethernet is the same as that for
Fast Ethernet. While defining a new medium and transmission specification, Giga-
bit Ethernet retains the CSMA/CD protocol and Ethernet format of its 10-Mbps
and 100-Mbps predecessors. It is compatible with 100BASE-T and 10BASE-T,
preserving a smooth migration path. As more organizations move to 100BASE-T,
putting huge traffic loads on backbone networks, demand for Gigabit Ethernet
has intensified.
Figure 16.4 shows a typical application of Gigabit Ethernet. A 1-Gbps switching
hub provides backbone connectivity for central servers and high-speed workgroup
hubs. Each workgroup LAN switch supports both 1-Gbps links, to connect to the back-
bone LAN switch and to support high-performance workgroup servers, and 100-Mbps
links, to support high-performance workstations, servers, and 100-Mbps LAN switches.
Media Access Layer The 1000-Mbps specification calls for the same CSMA/CD
frame format and MAC protocol as used in the 10-Mbps and 100-Mbps version of
IEEE 802.3. For shared-medium hub operation (Figure 15.13b), there are two
enhancements to the basic CSMA/CD scheme:
• Carrier extension: Carrier extension appends a set of special symbols to the
end of short MAC frames so that the resulting block is at least 4096 bit-times in
duration, up from the minimum 512 bit-times imposed at 10 and 100 Mbps. This
is so that the frame length of a transmission is longer than the propagation time
at 1 Gbps.
496
CHAPTER 16 / HIGH-SPEED LANS
1 Gbps
switching
Central
hub
servers
100 Mbps link
1 Gbps link
100/1000-Mbps Hubs
Workgroup
Workgroup
Figure 16.4
Example Gigabit Ethernet Configuration
• Frame bursting: This feature allows for multiple short frames to be transmit-
ted consecutively, up to a limit, without relinquishing control for CSMA/CD
between frames. Frame bursting avoids the overhead of carrier extension
when a single station has a number of small frames ready to send.
With a switching hub (Figure 15.13c), which provides dedicated access to the
medium, the carrier extension and frame bursting features are not needed. This is
because data transmission and reception at a station can occur simultaneously with-
out interference and with no contention for a shared medium.
Physical Layer The current 1-Gbps specification for IEEE 802.3 includes the fol-
lowing physical layer alternatives (Figure 16.5):
• 1000BASE-SX: This short-wavelength option supports duplex links of up to
275 m using
multimode or up to 550 m using
multimode fiber.
62.5-mm
50-mm
Wavelengths are in the range of 770 to 860 nm.
• 1000BASE-LX: This long-wavelength option supports duplex links of up to
550 m of
62.5-mm
or
50-mm
multimode fiber or 5 km of
10-mm
single-mode
fiber. Wavelengths are in the range of 1270 to 1355 nm.
16.2 / ETHERNET
497
10- m single-mode fiber
50- m multimode fiber
1000BASE-LX
62.5- m multimode fiber
50- m multimode fiber
1000BASE-SX
62.5- m multimode fiber
1000BASE-T
Category5 UTP
1000BASE-CX
Shielded cable
25 m
50 m
250 m
500 m
2500 m 5000 m
Maximum distance
Figure 16.5
Gigabit Ethernet Medium Options (log scale)
• 1000BASE-CX: This option supports
1-Gbps links among devices
located within a single room or equipment rack, using copper jumpers (spe-
cialized shielded twisted-pair cable that spans no more than 25 m). Each
link is composed of a separate shielded twisted pair running in each
direction.
• 1000BASE-T: This option makes use of four pairs of Category 5 unshielded
twisted pair to support devices over a range of up to 100 m.
The signal encoding scheme used for the first three Gigabit Ethernet options
just listed is 8B/10B, which is described in Appendix 16A. The signal-encoding
scheme used for 1000BASE-T is 4D-PAM5, a complex scheme whose description is
beyond our scope.
10-Gbps Ethernet
With gigabit products still fairly new, attention has turned in the past several years
to a 10-Gbps Ethernet capability. The principle driving requirement for 10 Gigabit
Ethernet is the increase in Internet and intranet traffic. A number of factors con-
tribute to the explosive growth in both Internet and intranet traffic:
• An increase in the number of network connections
• An increase in the connection speed of each end-station (e.g., 10 Mbps users
moving to 100 Mbps, analog 56-kbps users moving to DSL and cable
modems)
• An increase in the deployment of bandwidth-intensive applications such as
high-quality video
• An increase in Web hosting and application hosting traffic
498
CHAPTER 16 / HIGH-SPEED LANS
Initially network managers will use 10-Gbps Ethernet to provide high-speed,
local backbone interconnection between large-capacity switches. As the demand for
bandwidth increases, 10-Gbps Ethernet will be deployed throughout the entire net-
work and will include server farm, backbone, and campuswide connectivity. This
technology enables Internet service providers (ISPs) and network service providers
(NSPs) to create very high-speed links at a low cost, between co-located, carrier-
class switches and routers.
The technology also allows the construction of metropolitan area networks
(MANs) and WANs that connect geographically dispersed LANs between cam-
puses or points of presence (PoPs). Thus, Ethernet begins to compete with ATM
and other wide area transmission and networking technologies. In most cases
where the customer requirement is data and TCP/IP transport, 10-Gbps Ethernet
provides substantial value over ATM transport for both network end users and
service providers:
• No expensive, bandwidth-consuming conversion between Ethernet packets
and ATM cells is required; the network is Ethernet, end to end.
• The combination of IP and Ethernet offers quality of service and traffic
policing capabilities that approach those provided by ATM, so that
advanced traffic engineering technologies are available to users and
providers.
• A wide variety of standard optical interfaces (wavelengths and link distances)
have been specified for 10-Gbps Ethernet, optimizing its operation and cost
for LAN, MAN, or WAN applications.
Figure 16.6 illustrates potential uses of 10-Gbps Ethernet. Higher-capacity
backbone pipes will help relieve congestion for workgroup switches, where Gigabit
Ethernet uplinks can easily become overloaded, and for server farms, where 1-Gbps
network interface cards are already in widespread use.
The goal for maximum link distances cover a range of applications: from 300 m
to 40 km. The links operate in full-duplex mode only, using a variety of optical fiber
physical media.
Four physical layer options are defined for 10-Gbps Ethernet (Figure 16.7).
The first three of these have two suboptions: an “R” suboption and a “W” subop-
tion. The R designation refers to a family of physical layer implementations that use
a signal encoding technique known as 64B/66B. The R implementations are
designed for use over dark fiber, meaning a fiber optic cable that is not in use and
that is not connected to any other equipment. The W designation refers to a family
of physical layer implementations that also use 64B/66B signaling but that are then
encapsulated to connect to SONET equipment.
The four physical layer options are
• 10GBASE-S (short): Designed for 850-nm transmission on multimode fiber.
This medium can achieve distances up to 300 m. There are 10GBASE-SR and
10GBASE-SW versions.
• 10GBASE-L (long): Designed for 1310-nm transmission on single-mode fiber.
This medium can achieve distances up to 10 km. There are 10GBASE-LR and
10GBASE-LW versions.
Workstations
Server farm
10/100 Mbps
1 Gbps
Workgroup
Workgroup
Workgroup
switch
switch
switch
10 Gbps
10 Gbps
Backbone
Backbone
switch
switch
Figure 16.6
Example 10 Gigabit Ethernet Configuration
500
CHAPTER 16 / HIGH-SPEED LANS
10GBASE-S
50- m multimode fiber
(850 nm)
62.5- m multimode fiber
10GBASE-L
Single-mode fiber
(1310 nm)
10GBASE-E
Single-mode fiber
(1550 nm)
Single-mode fiber
10GBASE-LX4
50- m multimode fiber
(1310 nm)
62.5- m multimode fiber
10 m
100 m
300 m
1 km
10 km
40 km
100 km
Maximum distance
Figure 16.7
10-Gbps Ethernet Distance Options (log scale)
• 10GBASE-E (extended): Designed for 1550-nm transmission on single-mode
fiber. This medium can achieve distances up to 40 km. There are 10GBASE-
ER and 10GBASE-EW versions.
• 10GBASE-LX4: Designed for 1310-nm transmission on single-mode or multi-
mode fiber. This medium can achieve distances up to 10 km. This medium uses
wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) to multiplex the bit stream across
four light waves.
The success of Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, and 10-Gbps Ethernet highlights
the importance of network management concerns in choosing a network technology.
Both ATM and Fiber Channel, explored later, may be technically superior choices for a
high-speed backbone, because of their flexibility and scalability. However, the Ethernet
alternatives offer compatibility with existing installed LANs, network management
software, and applications. This compatibility has accounted for the survival of a nearly
30-year-old technology (CSMA/CD) in today’s fast-evolving network environment.
16.3 FIBRE CHANNEL
As the speed and memory capacity of personal computers, workstations, and servers
have grown, and as applications have become ever more complex with greater
reliance on graphics and video, the requirement for greater speed in delivering data
to the processor has grown. This requirement affects two methods of data communi-
cations with the processor: I/O channel and network communications.
An I/O channel is a direct point-to-point or multipoint communications link,
predominantly hardware based and designed for high speed over very short dis-
tances. The I/O channel transfers data between a buffer at the source device and a
buffer at the destination device, moving only the user contents from one device to
another, without regard to the format or meaning of the data. The logic associated
16.3 / FIBRE CHANNEL
501
with the channel typically provides the minimum control necessary to manage the
transfer plus hardware error detection. I/O channels typically manage transfers
between processors and peripheral devices, such as disks, graphics equipment, CD-
ROMs, and video I/O devices.
A network is a collection of interconnected access points with a software pro-
tocol structure that enables communication. The network typically allows many dif-
ferent types of data transfer, using software to implement the networking protocols
and to provide flow control, error detection, and error recovery. As we have dis-
cussed in this book, networks typically manage transfers between end systems over
local, metropolitan, or wide area distances.
Fibre Channel is designed to combine the best features of both technologies—
the simplicity and speed of channel communications with the flexibility and inter-
connectivity that characterize protocol-based network communications. This fusion
of approaches allows system designers to combine traditional peripheral connec-
tion, host-to-host internetworking, loosely coupled processor clustering, and multi-
media applications in a single multiprotocol interface. The types of channel-oriented
facilities incorporated into the Fibre Channel protocol architecture include
• Data-type qualifiers for routing frame payload into particular interface buffers
• Link-level constructs associated with individual I/O operations
• Protocol interface specifications to allow support of existing I/O channel
architectures, such as the Small Computer System Interface (SCSI)
The types of network-oriented facilities incorporated into the Fibre Channel
protocol architecture include
• Full multiplexing of traffic between multiple destinations
• Peer-to-peer connectivity between any pair of ports on a Fibre Channel network
• Capabilities for internetworking to other connection technologies
Depending on the needs of the application, either channel or networking
approaches can be used for any data transfer. The Fibre Channel Industry Associa-
tion, which is the industry consortium promoting Fibre Channel, lists the following
ambitious requirements that Fibre Channel is intended to satisfy [FCIA01]:
• Full-duplex links with two fibers per link
• Performance from 100 Mbps to 800 Mbps on a single line (full-duplex 200
Mbps to 1600 Mbps per link)
• Support for distances up to 10 km
• Small connectors
• High-capacity utilization with distance insensitivity
• Greater connectivity than existing multidrop channels
• Broad availability (i.e., standard components)
• Support for multiple cost/performance levels, from small systems to super-
computers
• Ability to carry multiple existing interface command sets for existing channel
and network protocols
502
CHAPTER 16 / HIGH-SPEED LANS
The solution was to develop a simple generic transport mechanism based on
point-to-point links and a switching network. This underlying infrastructure sup-
ports a simple encoding and framing scheme that in turn supports a variety of chan-
nel and network protocols.
Fibre Channel Elements
The key elements of a Fibre Channel network are the end systems, called nodes, and
the network itself, which consists of one or more switching elements. The collection
of switching elements is referred to as a fabric. These elements are interconnected
by point-to-point links between ports on the individual nodes and switches. Com-
munication consists of the transmission of frames across the point-to-point links.
Each node includes one or more ports, called N_ports, for interconnection.
Similarly, each fabric-switching element includes multiple ports, called F_ports.
Interconnection is by means of bidirectional links between ports. Any node can
communicate with any other node connected to the same fabric using the services of
the fabric. All routing of frames between N_ports is done by the fabric. Frames may
be buffered within the fabric, making it possible for different nodes to connect to
the fabric at different data rates.
A fabric can be implemented as a single fabric element with attached nodes (a
simple star arrangement) or as a more general network of fabric elements, as shown
in Figure 16.8. In either case, the fabric is responsible for buffering and for routing
frames between source and destination nodes.
The Fibre Channel network is quite different from the IEEE 802 LANs. Fibre
Channel is more like a traditional circuit-switching or packet-switching network, in
contrast to the typical shared-medium LAN. Thus, Fibre Channel need not be con-
cerned with medium access control issues. Because it is based on a switching network,
the Fibre Channel scales easily in terms of N_ports, data rate, and distance covered.
Fibre Channel
switching fabric
Figure 16.8
Fibre Channel Network
16.3 / FIBRE CHANNEL
503
This approach provides great flexibility. Fibre Channel can readily accommodate new
transmission media and data rates by adding new switches and F_ports to an existing
fabric. Thus, an existing investment is not lost with an upgrade to new technologies
and equipment. Further, the layered protocol architecture accommodates existing
I/O interface and networking protocols, preserving the preexisting investment.
Fibre Channel Protocol Architecture
The Fibre Channel standard is organized into five levels. Each level defines a func-
tion or set of related functions. The standard does not dictate a correspondence
between levels and actual implementations, with a specific interface between adja-
cent levels. Rather, the standard refers to the level as a “document artifice” used to
group related functions. The layers are as follows:
• FC-0 Physical Media: Includes optical fiber for long-distance applications,
coaxial cable for high speeds over short distances, and shielded twisted pair for
lower speeds over short distances
• FC-1 Transmission Protocol: Defines the signal encoding scheme
• FC-2 Framing Protocol: Deals with defining topologies, frame format, flow
and error control, and grouping of frames into logical entities called sequences
and exchanges
• FC-3 Common Services: Includes multicasting
• FC-4 Mapping: Defines the mapping of various channel and network proto-
cols to Fibre Channel, including IEEE 802, ATM, IP, and the Small Computer
System Interface (SCSI)
Fibre Channel Physical Media and Topologies
One of the major strengths of the Fibre Channel standard is that it provides a range
of options for the physical medium, the data rate on that medium, and the topology
of the network (Table 16.4).
Transmission Media The transmission media options that are available under
Fibre Channel include shielded twisted pair, video coaxial cable, and optical fiber.
Standardized data rates range from 100 Mbps to 3.2 Gbps. Point-to-point link dis-
tances range from 33 m to 10 km.
Table 16.4
Maximum Distance for Fibre Channel Media Types
800 Mbps
400 Mbps
200 Mbps
100 Mbps
Single mode fiber
10 km
10 km
10 km
—
50-Mm
multimode fiber
0.5 km
1 km
2 km
—
62.5-Mm multimode fiber
175 m
1 km
1 km
—
Video coaxial cable
50 m
71 m
100 m
100 m
Miniature coaxial cable
14 m
19 m
28 m
42 m
Shielded twisted pair
28 m
46 m
57 m
80 m
504
CHAPTER 16 / HIGH-SPEED LANS
Topologies The most general topology supported by Fibre Channel is referred to
as a fabric or switched topology. This is an arbitrary topology that includes at least
one switch to interconnect a number of end systems. The fabric topology may also
consist of a number of switches forming a switched network, with some or all of
these switches also supporting end nodes.
Routing in the fabric topology is transparent to the nodes. Each port in the con-
figuration has a unique address. When data from a node are transmitted into the fab-
ric, the edge switch to which the node is attached uses the destination port address in
the incoming data frame to determine the destination port location. The switch then
either delivers the frame to another node attached to the same switch or transfers the
frame to an adjacent switch to begin routing the frame to a remote destination.
The fabric topology provides scalability of capacity: As additional ports are
added, the aggregate capacity of the network increases, thus minimizing congestion
and contention and increasing throughput. The fabric is protocol independent and
largely distance insensitive.The technology of the switch itself and of the transmis-
sion links connecting the switch to nodes may be changed without affecting the
overall configuration.Another advantage of the fabric topology is that the burden
on nodes is minimized. An individual Fibre Channel node (end system) is only
responsible for managing a simple point-to-point connection between itself and the
fabric; the fabric is responsible for routing between ports and error detection.
In addition to the fabric topology, the Fibre Channel standard defines two
other topologies. With the point-to-point topology there are only two ports, and
these are directly connected, with no intervening fabric switches. In this case there is
no routing. The arbitrated loop topology is a simple, low-cost topology for connect-
ing up to 126 nodes in a loop. The arbitrated loop operates in a manner roughly
equivalent to the token ring protocols that we have seen.
Topologies, transmission media, and data rates may be combined to provide an
optimized configuration for a given site. Figure 16.9 is an example that illustrates the
principal applications of Fiber Channel.
Prospects for Fibre Channel
Fibre Channel is backed by an industry interest group known as the Fibre Chan-
nel Association and a variety of interface cards for different applications are
available. Fibre Channel has been most widely accepted as an improved periph-
eral device interconnect, providing services that can eventually replace such
schemes as SCSI. It is a technically attractive solution to general high-speed LAN
requirements but must compete with Ethernet and ATM LANs. Cost and perfor-
mance issues should dominate the manager’s consideration of these competing
technologies.
16.4 RECOMMENDED READING AND WEB SITES
[STAL00] covers in greater detail the LAN systems discussed in this chapter.
[SPUR00] provides a concise but thorough overview of all of the 10-Mbps through 1-Gbps
802.3 systems, including configuration guidelines for a single segment of each media type, as well
16.4 / RECOMMENDED READING AND WEB SITES
505
Linking high-
1
performance
workstation clusters
ATM
WAN
Linking LANs and
5
WANs to the backbone
Fibre Channel
switching fabric
Connecting mainframes
2
to each other
4
Clustering disk farms
3
Giving server farms high-speed pipes
Figure 16.9
Five Applications of Fibre Channel
as guidelines for building multisegment Ethernets using a variety of media types. Two excellent
treatments of both 100-Mbps and Gigabit Ethernet are [SEIF98] and [KADA98].A good survey
article on Gigabit Ethernet is [FRAZ99].
[SACH96] is a good survey of Fibre Channel. A short but worthwhile treatment is
[FCIA01].
FCIA01
Fibre Channel Industry Association. Fibre Channel Storage Area Networks. San
Francisco: Fibre Channel Industry Association, 2001.
FRAZ99
Frazier, H., and Johnson, H. “Gigabit Ethernet: From 100 to 1,000 Mbps.”
IEEE Internet Computing, January/February 1999.
KADA98
Kadambi, J.; Crayford, I.; and Kalkunte, M. Gigabit Ethernet. Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1998.
SACH96
Sachs. M., and Varma, A. “Fibre Channel and Related Standards.” IEEE Com-
munications Magazine, August 1996.
SEIF98
Seifert, R. Gigabit Ethernet. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1998.
SPUR00
Spurgeon, C. Ethernet: The Definitive Guide. Cambridge, MA: O’Reilly and
Associates, 2000.
STAL00
Stallings, W. Local and Metropolitan Area Networks, Sixth Edition. Upper Sad-
dle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000.
506
CHAPTER 16 / HIGH-SPEED LANS
Recommended Web sites:
• Interoperability Lab: University of New Hampshire site for equipment testing for
high-speed LANs
• Charles Spurgeon’s Ethernet Web Site: Provides extensive information about Eth-
ernet, including links and documents
• IEEE 802.3 10-Gbps Ethernet Task Force: Latest documents
• Fibre Channel Industry Association: Includes tutorials, white papers, links to ven-
dors, and descriptions of Fibre Channel applications
• CERN Fibre Channel Site: Includes tutorials, white papers, links to vendors, and
descriptions of Fibre Channel applications
• Storage Network Industry Association: An industry forum of developers, integra-
tors, and IT professionals who evolve and promote storage networking technology and
solutions
16.5 KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
Key Terms
1-persistent CSMA
carrier sense multiple access
full-duplex operation
ALOHA
with collision detection
nonpersistent CSMA
binary exponential backoff
(CSMA/CD)
p-persistent CSMA
carrier sense multiple access
collision
repeater
(CSMA)
Ethernet
scrambling
Fibre Channel
slotted ALOHA
Review Questions
16.1. What is a server farm?
16.2. Explain the three persistence protocols that can be used with CSMA.
16.3. What is CSMA/CD?
16.4. Explain binary exponential backoff.
16.5. What are the transmission medium options for Fast Ethernet?
16.6. How does Fast Ethernet differ from 10BASE-T, other than the data rate?
16.7. In the context of Ethernet, what is full-duplex operation?
16.8. List the levels of Fibre Channel and the functions of each level.
16.9. What are the topology options for Fibre Channel?
Problems
16.1
A disadvantage of the contention approach for LANs, such as CSMA/CD, is the
capacity wasted due to multiple stations attempting to access the channel at the
same time. Suppose that time is divided into discrete slots, with each of N stations
attempting to transmit with probability p during each slot.What fraction of slots are
wasted due to multiple simultaneous transmission attempts?
16.5 / KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
507
16.2
For p-persistent CSMA, consider the following situation. A station is ready to trans-
mit and is listening to the current transmission. No other station is ready to transmit,
and there will be no other transmission for an indefinite period. If the time unit used
in the protocol is T, show that the average number of iterations of step 1 of the proto-
col is 1/p and that therefore the expected time that the station will have to wait after
the current transmission is
q
1
Ta1
1b.
Hint: Use the equality
iXi-1 =
a
p -
i=1
11 - X22.
16.3
The binary exponential backoff algorithm is defined by IEEE 802 as follows:
The delay is an integral multiple of slot time. The number of slot times to delay
before the nth retransmission attempt is chosen as a uniformly distributed ran-
dom integer r in the range
where
0 … r 6 2
K = min1n, 102.
K,
Slot time is, roughly, twice the round-trip propagation delay. Assume that two stations
always have a frame to send. After a collision, what is the mean number of retrans-
mission attempts before one station successfully retransmits? What is the answer if
three stations always have frames to send?
16.4
Describe the signal pattern produced on the medium by the Manchester-encoded
preamble of the IEEE 802.3 MAC frame.
16.5
Analyze the advantages of having the FCS field of IEEE 802.3 frames in the trailer of
the frame rather than in the header of the frame.
16.6
The most widely used MAC approach for a ring topology is token ring, defined in
IEEE 802.5. The token ring technique is based on the use of a small frame, called a
token, that circulates when all stations are idle. A station wishing to transmit must
wait until it detects a token passing by. It then seizes the token by changing one bit in
the token, which transforms it from a token to a start-of-frame sequence for a data
frame. The station then appends and transmits the remainder of the fields needed to
construct a data frame. When a station seizes a token and begins to transmit a data
frame, there is no token on the ring, so other stations wishing to transmit must wait.
The frame on the ring will make a round trip and be absorbed by the transmitting sta-
tion. The transmitting station will insert a new token on the ring when both of the fol-
lowing conditions have been met: (1) The station has completed transmission of its
frame. (2) The leading edge of the transmitted frame has returned (after a complete
circulation of the ring) to the station.
a. An option in IEEE 802.5, known as early token release, eliminates the second
condition just listed. Under what conditions will early token release result in
improved utilization?
b. Are there any potential disadvantages to early token release? Explain.
16.7
For a token ring LAN, suppose that the destination station removes the data
frame and immediately sends a short acknowledgment frame to the sender rather
than letting the original frame return to sender. How will this affect performance?
16.8
Another medium access control technique for rings is the slotted ring. A number of
fixed-length slots circulate continuously on the ring. Each slot contains a leading bit
to designate the slot as empty or full. A station wishing to transmit waits until an
empty slot arrives, marks the slot full, and inserts a frame of data as the slot goes by.
The full slot makes a complete round trip, to be marked empty again by the station
that marked it full. In what sense are the slotted ring and token ring protocols the
complement (dual) of each other?
16.9
Consider a slotted ring of length 10 km with a data rate of 10 Mbps and 500 repeaters,
each of which introduces a 1-bit delay. Each slot contains room for one source address
byte, one destination address byte, two data bytes, and five control bits for a total
length of 37 bits. How many slots are on the ring?
16.10
With 8B6T coding, the effective data rate on a single channel is 33 Mbps with a sig-
naling rate of 25 Mbaud. If a pure ternary scheme were used, what is the effective
data rate for a signaling rate of 25 Mbaud?
508
CHAPTER 16 / HIGH-SPEED LANS
16.11
With 8B6T coding, the DC algorithm sometimes negates all of the ternary symbols in
a code group. How does the receiver recognize this condition? How does the receiver
discriminate between a negated code group and one that has not been negated? For
example, the code group for data byte 00 is
and the code group for data
+ - 0 0 + -
byte 38 is the negation of that, namely,
- + 0 0 - +.
16.12
Draw the MLT decoder state diagram that corresponds to the encoder state diagram
of Figure 16.10.
16.13
For the bit stream 0101110, sketch the waveforms for NRZ-L, NRZI, Manchester, and
Differential Manchester, and MLT-3.
16.14
Consider a token ring system with N stations in which a station that has just transmit-
ted a frame releases a new token only after the station has completed transmission of
its frame and the leading edge of the transmitted frame has returned (after a com-
plete circulation of the ring) to the station.
a. Show that utilization can be approximated by
1/11 + a/N2
for
a 6 1
and by
1/1a + a/N2
for
a 7 1,
b. What is the asymptotic value of utilization as N increases?
16.15
a. Verify that the division illustrated in Figure 16.18a corresponds to the implemen-
tation of Figure 16.17a by calculating the result step by step using Equation (16.7).
b. Verify that the multiplication illustrated in Figure 16.18b corresponds to the
implementation of Figure 16.17b by calculating the result step by step using
Equation (16.8).
16.16
Draw a figure similar to Figure 16.17 for the MLT-3 scrambler and descrambler.
APPENDIX 16A DIGITAL SIGNAL ENCODING FOR LANS
In Chapter 5, we looked at some of the common techniques for encoding digital data for trans-
mission, including Manchester and differential Manchester, which are used in some of the
LAN standards. In this appendix, we examine some additional encoding schemes referred to in
this chapter.
4B/5B-NRZI
This scheme, which is actually a combination of two encoding algorithms, is used for
100BASE-X.To understand the significance of this choice, first consider the simple alterna-
tive of a NRZ (nonreturn to zero) coding scheme. With NRZ, one signal state represents
binary one and one signal state represents binary zero.The disadvantage of this approach is
its lack of synchronization. Because transitions on the medium are unpredictable, there is no
way for the receiver to synchronize its clock to the transmitter.A solution to this problem is
to encode the binary data to guarantee the presence of transitions. For example, the data
could first be encoded using Manchester encoding.The disadvantage of this approach is that
the efficiency is only 50%. That is, because there can be as many as two transitions per bit
time, a signaling rate of 200 million signal elements per second (200 Mbaud) is needed to
achieve a data rate of 100 Mbps. This represents an unnecessary cost and technical burden.
Greater efficiency can be achieved using the 4B/5B code. In this scheme, encoding is
done 4 bits at a time; each 4 bits of data are encoded into a symbol with five code bits, such
that each code bit contains a single signal element; the block of five code bits is called a code
group. In effect, each set of 4 bits is encoded as 5 bits. The efficiency is thus raised to 80%:
100 Mbps is achieved with 125 Mbaud.
To ensure synchronization, there is a second stage of encoding: Each code bit of the
4B/5B stream is treated as a binary value and encoded using nonreturn to zero inverted
(NRZI) (see Figure 5.2). In this code, a binary 1 is represented with a transition at the
APPENDIX 16A DIGITAL SIGNAL ENCODING FOR LANS
509
beginning of the bit interval and a binary 0 is represented with no transition at the beginning
of the bit interval; there are no other transitions. The advantage of NRZI is that it employs dif-
ferential encoding. Recall from Chapter 5 that in differential encoding, the signal is decoded
by comparing the polarity of adjacent signal elements rather than the absolute value of a sig-
nal element. A benefit of this scheme is that it is generally more reliable to detect a transition
in the presence of noise and distortion than to compare a value to a threshold.
Now we are in a position to describe the 4B/5B code and to understand the selections
that were made. Table 16.5 shows the symbol encoding. Each 5-bit code group pattern is shown,
together with its NRZI realization. Because we are encoding 4 bits with a 5-bit pattern, only
16 of the 32 possible patterns are needed for data encoding. The codes selected to represent
Table 16.5
4B/5B Code Groups (page 1 of 2)
Data Input
Code Group
NRZI pattern
Interpretation
(4 bits)
(5 bits)
0000
11110
Data 0
0001
01001
Data 1
0010
10100
Data 2
0011
10101
Data 3
0100
01010
Data 4
0101
01011
Data 5
0110
01110
Data 6
0111
01111
Data 7
1000
10010
Data 8
1001
10011
Data 9
1010
10110
Data A
1011
10111
Data B
1100
11010
Data C
1101
11011
Data D
1110
11100
Data E
1111
11101
Data F
11111
Idle
11000
Start of stream
delimiter, part 1
10001
Start of stream
delimiter, part 2
01101
End of stream
delimiter, part 1
00111
End of stream
delimiter, part 2
00100
Transmit error
Other
Invalid codes
510
CHAPTER 16 / HIGH-SPEED LANS
the 16 4-bit data blocks are such that a transition is present at least twice for each 5-code group
code. No more than three zeros in a row are allowed across one or more code groups
The encoding scheme can be summarized as follows:
1. A simple NRZ encoding is rejected because it does not provide synchronization; a
string of 1s or 0s will have no transitions.
2. The data to be transmitted must first be encoded to assure transitions. The 4B/5B code is
chosen over Manchester because it is more efficient.
3. The 4B/5B code is further encoded using NRZI so that the resulting differential signal will
improve reception reliability.
4. The specific 5-bit patterns for the encoding of the 16 4-bit data patterns are chosen to
guarantee no more than three zeros in a row to provide for adequate synchronization.
Those code groups not used to represent data are either declared invalid or assigned
special meaning as control symbols. These assignments are listed in Table 16.5. The nondata
symbols fall into the following categories:
• Idle: The idle code group is transmitted between data transmission sequences. It
consists of a constant flow of binary ones, which in NRZI comes out as a continuous
alternation between the two signal levels. This continuous fill pattern establishes
and maintains synchronization and is used in the CSMA/CD protocol to indicate
that the shared medium is idle.
• Start of stream delimiter: Used to delineate the starting boundary of a data transmis-
sion sequence; consists of two different code groups.
• End of stream delimiter: Used to terminate normal data transmission sequences; con-
sists of two different code groups.
• Transmit error: This code group is interpreted as a signaling error. The normal use of
this indicator is for repeaters to propagate received errors.
MLT-3
Although 4B/5B-NRZI is effective over optical fiber, it is not suitable as is for use over
twisted pair. The reason is that the signal energy is concentrated in such a way as to produce
undesirable radiated emissions from the wire. MLT-3, which is used on 100BASE-TX, is
designed to overcome this problem.
The following steps are involved:
1. NRZI to NRZ conversion. The 4B/5B NRZI signal of the basic 100BASE-X is con-
verted back to NRZ.
2. Scrambling. The bit stream is scrambled to produce a more uniform spectrum distribution
for the next stage.
3. Encoder. The scrambled bit stream is encoded using a scheme known as MLT-3.
4. Driver. The resulting encoding is transmitted.
The effect of the MLT-3 scheme is to concentrate most of the energy in the transmitted
signal below 30 MHz, which reduces radiated emissions. This in turn reduces problems due to
interference.
The MLT-3 encoding produces an output that has a transition for every binary one and
that uses three levels: a positive voltage
a negative voltage
and no voltage (0).
1+V2,
1-V2,
The encoding rules are best explained with reference to the encoder state diagram shown in
Figure 16.10:
APPENDIX 16A DIGITAL SIGNAL ENCODING FOR LANS
511
Input
0
0,
Input
1
from V
Input = 1
Input
0
V
V
Input
0
Input
1
0,
Input
1
from V
Input
0
Figure 16.10
MLT-3 Encoder State Diagram
1. If the next input bit is zero, then the next output value is the same as the preceding value.
2. If the next input bit is one, then the next output value involves a transition:
(a) If the preceding output value was either
or
then the next output value is 0.
+V
- V,
(b) If the preceding output value was 0, then the next output value is nonzero, and
that output is of the opposite sign to the last nonzero output.
Figure 16.11 provides an example. Every time there is an input of 1, there is a transition.
The occurrences of
and
alternate.
+V
-V
8B6T
The 8B6T encoding algorithm uses ternary signaling. With ternary signaling, each signal ele-
ment can take on one of three values (positive voltage, negative voltage, zero voltage). A pure
ternary code is one in which the full information-carrying capacity of the ternary signal is
exploited. However, pure ternary is not attractive for the same reasons that a pure binary
(NRZ) code is rejected: the lack of synchronization. However, there are schemes referred to
as block-coding methods that approach the efficiency of ternary and overcome this disadvan-
tage. A new block-coding scheme known as 8B6T is used for 100BASE-T4.
With 8B6T the data to be transmitted are handled in 8-bit blocks. Each block of 8 bits
is mapped into a code group of 6 ternary symbols. The stream of code groups is then trans-
mitted in round-robin fashion across the three output channels (Figure 16.12). Thus the
ternary transmission rate on each output channel is
1
0
0
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
1
1
0
1
1
1
0
V
0
V
Figure 16.11
Example of MLT-3 Encoding
512
CHAPTER 16 / HIGH-SPEED LANS
6T (25 Mbaud)
8B (100 Mbps)
Stream of 8-bit
8B6T
Splitter
bytes
coder
6T (25 MBaud)
6T (25 MBaud)
Figure 16.12
8B6T Transmission Scheme
6
331
25 Mbaud
8 *
3 =
Table 16.6 shows a portion of the 8B6T code table; the full table maps all possible 8-bit
patterns into a unique code group of 6 ternary symbols. The mapping was chosen with two
requirements in mind: synchronization and DC balance. For synchronization, the codes were
chosen so to maximize the average number of transitions per code group. The second require-
ment is to maintain DC balance, so that the average voltage on the line is zero. For this pur-
pose all of the selected code groups either have an equal number of positive and negative
symbols or an excess of one positive symbol. To maintain balance, a DC balancing algorithm
is used. In essence, this algorithm monitors the cumulative weight of the of all code groups
transmitted on a single pair. Each code group has a weight of 0 or 1. To maintain balance, the
Table 16.6
Portion of 8B6T Code Table
Data
6T Code
Data
6T Code
Data
6T Code
Data
6T Code
Octet
Group
Octet
Group
Octet
Group
Octet
Group
00
+ - 0 0 + -
10
+ 0 + - - 0
20
0 0 - + + -
30
+ - 0 0 - +
01
0 + - + - 0
11
+ + 0 - 0 -
21
- - + 0 0 +
31
0 + - - + 0
02
+ - 0 + - 0
12
+ 0 + - 0 -
22
+ + - 0 + -
32
+ - 0 - + 0
03
- 0 + + - 0
13
0 + + - 0 -
23
+ + - 0 - +
33
- 0 + - + 0
04
- 0 + 0 + -
14
0 + + - - 0
24
0 0 + 0 - +
34
- 0 + 0 - +
05
0 + - - 0 +
15
+ + 0 0 - -
25
0 0 + 0 + -
35
0 + - + 0 -
06
+ - 0 - 0 +
16
+ 0 + 0 - -
26
0 0 - 0 0 +
36
+ - 0 + 0 -
07
- 0 + - 0 +
17
0 + + 0 - -
27
- - + + + -
37
- 0 + + 0 -
08
- + 0 0 + -
18
0 + - 0 + -
28
- 0 - + + 0
38
- + 0 0 - +
09
0 - + + - 0
19
0 + - 0 - +
29
- - 0 + 0 +
39
0 - + - + 0
0A
- + 0 + - 0
1A
0 + - + + -
2A
- 0 - + 0 +
3A
- + 0 - + 0
0B
+ 0 - + - 0
1B
0 + - 0 0 +
2B
0 - - + 0 +
3B
+ 0 - - + 0
0C
+ 0 - 0 + -
1C
0 - + 0 0 +
2C
0 - - + + 0
3C
+ 0 - 0 - +
0D
0 - + - 0 +
1D
0 - + + + -
2D
- - 0 0 + +
3D
0 - + + 0 -
0E
- + 0 - 0 +
1E
0 - + 0 - +
2E
- 0 - 0 + +
3E
- + 0 + 0 -
0F
+ 0 - - 0 +
1F
0 - + 0 + -
2F
0 - - 0 + +
3F
+ 0 - + 0 -
APPENDIX 16A DIGITAL SIGNAL ENCODING FOR LANS
513
algorithm may negate a transmitted code group (change all + symbols to symbols and all
-
symbols to + symbols), so that the cumulative weight at the conclusion of each code group is
always either 0 or 1.
8B/10B
The encoding scheme used for Fibre Channel and Gigabit Ethernet is 8B/10B, in which each
8 bits of data is converted into 10 bits for transmission. This scheme has a similar philosophy to
the 4B/5B scheme discussed earlier. The 8B/10B scheme, developed and patented by IBM for
use in its 200-megabaud ESCON interconnect system [WIDM83], is more powerful than
4B/5B in terms of transmission characteristics and error detection capability.
The developers of this code list the following advantages:
• It can be implemented with relatively simple and reliable transceivers at low cost.
• It is well balanced, with minimal deviation from the occurrence of an equal number of
1 and 0 bits across any sequence.
• It provides good transition density for easier clock recovery.
• It provides useful error detection capability.
The 8B/10B code is an example of the more general mBnB code, in which m binary source
bits are mapped into n binary bits for transmission. Redundancy is built into the code to pro-
vide the desired transmission features by making
n 7 m.
The 8B/10B code actually combines two other codes, a 5B/6B code and a 3B/4B code.
The use of these two codes is simply an artifact that simplifies the definition of the mapping
and the implementation; the mapping could have been defined directly as an 8B/10B code. In
any case, a mapping is defined that maps each of the possible 8-bit source blocks into a 10-bit
code block. There is also a function called disparity control. In essence, this function keeps
track of the excess of zeros over ones or ones over zeros. An excess in either direction is
referred to as a disparity. If there is a disparity, and if the current code block would add to that
disparity, then the disparity control block complements the 10-bit code block. This has the
effect of either eliminating the disparity or at least moving it in the opposite direction of the
current disparity.
64B/66B
The 8B/10B code results in an overhead of 25%. To achieve greater efficiency at a higher data
rate, the 64B/66B code maps a block of 64 bits into an output block of 66 bits, for an overhead
of just 3%. This code is used in 10-Gbps Ethernet. Figure 16.13 illustrates the process. The entire
0
1
64-bit data field (scrambled)
(a) Data octets only
1
0
8-bit type
Combined 56-bit data /control field (scrambled)
(b) Mixed data/control block
Figure 16.13
Encoding Using 64B/66B
514
CHAPTER 16 / HIGH-SPEED LANS
Ethernet frame, including control fields, is considered “data” for this pzrocess. In addition, there
are nondata symbols, called “control,” and which include those defined for the 4B/5B code dis-
cussed previously plus a few other symbols. For a 64-bit block consisting only of data octets, the
entire block is scrambled. Two synchronization bits, with values 01, are prepended to the scram-
bled block. For a block consisting a mixture of control and data octets, a 56-bit block is used,
which is scrambled; a 66-bit block is formed by prepending two synchronization bits, with values
10, and an 8-bit control type field, which defines the control functions included with this block.
In both cases, scrambling is performed using the polynomial
See Appendix
1 + X39 + X58.
16C for a discussion of scrambling. The two-bit synchronization field provides block alignment
and a means of synchronizing when long streams of bits are sent.
Note that in this case, no specific coding technique is used to achieve the desired syn-
chronization and frequency of transitions. Rather the scrambling algorithm provides the
required characteristics.
APPENDIX 16B PERFORMANCE ISSUES
The choice of a LAN or MAN architecture is based on many factors, but one of the most
important is performance. Of particular concern is the behavior (throughput, response time)
of the network under heavy load. In this appendix, we provide an introduction to this topic. A
more detailed discussion can be found in [STAL00].
The Effect of Propagation Delay and Transmission Rate
In Chapter 7, we introduced the parameter a, defined as
Propagation time
a =
Transmission time
In that context, we were concerned with a point-to-point link, with a given propagation time
between the two endpoints and a transmission time for either a fixed or average frame size. It
was shown that a could be expressed as
Length of data link in bits
a =
Length of frame in bits
This parameter is also important in the context of LANs and MANs, and in fact deter-
mines an upper bound on utilization. Consider a perfectly efficient access mechanism that
allows only one transmission at a time. As soon as one transmission is over, another station
begins transmitting. Furthermore, the transmission is pure data; no overhead bits. What is the
maximum possible utilization of the network? It can be expressed as the ratio of total
throughput of the network to its data rate:
Throughput
U =
(16.1)
Data rate
Now define, as in Chapter 7:
R = data rate of the channel
d = maximum distance between any two stations
V = velocity of signal propagation
L = average or fixed frame length
APPENDIX 16B PERFORMANCE ISSUES
515
The throughput is just the number of bits transmitted per unit time. A frame contains L bits,
and the amount of time devoted to that frame is the actual transmission time (L/R) plus the
propagation delay (d/V). Thus
L
Throughput =
(16.2)
d>V + L>R
But by our preceding definition of a,
d>V
Rd
a =
=
(16.3)
L>R
LV
Substituting (16.2) and (16.3) into (16.1),
1
U =
(16.4)
1 + a
Note that this differs from Equation (7.4) in Appendix 7A. This is because the latter assumed
a half-duplex protocol (no piggybacked acknowledgments).
So utilization varies with a. This can be grasped intuitively by studying Figure 16.14,
which shows a baseband bus with two stations as far apart as possible (worst case) that take
turns sending frames. If we normalize time such that frame transmission
time = 1,
then the
propagation
time = a.
For
a 6 1,
the sequence of events is as follows:
1. A station begins transmitting at t0 .
2. Reception begins at t0 + a.
3. Transmission is completed at t0 + 1.
4. Reception ends at t0 + 1 + a.
5. The other station begins transmitting.
t0
t0
Start of transmission
Start of transmission
t0
a
t0
1
Start of reception
End of transmission
t0
1
t0
a
End of transmission
Start of reception
t0
1 a
t0
1 a
End of reception
End of reception
(a) Transmission time
1; propagation time a
1
(b) Transmission time
1; propagation time a
1
Figure 16.14
The Effect of a on Utilization for Baseband Bus
516
CHAPTER 16 / HIGH-SPEED LANS
a
1
a
1
t0
t0
t0
1
t0
a
t0
a
t0
1
t0
1 a
t0
1 a
Figure 16.15
The Effect of a on Utilization for Ring
For
events 2 and 3 are interchanged. In both cases, the total time for one “turn”
a 7 1,
is
but the transmission time is only 1, for a utilization of
1 + a,
1/11 + a2.
The same effect can be seen to apply to a ring network in Figure 16.15. Here we assume
that one station transmits and then waits to receive its own transmission before any other sta-
tion transmits. The identical sequence of events just outlined applies.
Typical values of a range from about 0.01 to 0.1 for LANs and 0.1 to well over 1.0 for
MANs. Table 16.7 gives some representative values for a bus topology. As can be seen, for
larger and/or higher-speed networks, utilization suffers. For this reason, the restriction of only
one frame at a time is lifted for high-speed LANs.
APPENDIX 16B PERFORMANCE ISSUES
517
Table 16.7
Representative Values of a
Data Rate (Mbps)
Frame Size (bits)
Network Length (km)
a
1/11
a2
1
100
1
0.05
0.95
1
1,000
10
0.05
0.95
1
100
10
0.5
0.67
10
100
1
0.5
0.67
10
1,000
1
0.05
0.95
10
1,000
10
0.5
0.67
10
10,000
10
0.05
0.95
100
35,000
200
2.8
0.26
100
1,000
50
25
0.04
Finally, the preceding analysis assumes a “perfect” protocol, for which a new frame can
be transmitted as soon as an old frame is received. In practice, the MAC protocol adds over-
head that reduces utilization. This is demonstrated in the next subsection.
Simple Performance Model of CSMA/CD
The purpose of this section is to give the reader some insight into the performance of
CSMA/CD by developing a simple performance models. It is hoped that this exercise will aid
in understanding the results of more rigorous analyses.
For these models we assume a local network with N active stations and a maximum
normalized propagation delay of a. To simplify the analysis, we assume that each station is
always prepared to transmit a frame. This allows us to develop an expression for maximum
achievable utilization (U). Although this should not be construed to be the sole figure of
merit for a local network, it is the single most analyzed figure of merit and does permit useful
performance comparisons.
Consider time on a bus medium to be organized into slots whose length is twice the
end-to-end propagation delay. This is a convenient way to view the activity on the medium;
the slot time is the maximum time, from the start of transmission, required to detect a colli-
sion. Assume that there are N active stations. Clearly, if each station always has a frame to
transmit and does so, there will be nothing but collisions on the line. So we assume that each
station restrains itself to transmitting during an available slot with probability P.
Time on the medium consists of two types of intervals. First is a transmission interval,
which lasts 1/(2a) slots. Second is a contention interval, which is a sequence of slots with
either a collision or no transmission in each slot. The throughput, normalized to system capac-
ity, is the proportion of time spent in transmission intervals.
To determine the average length of a contention interval, we begin by computing A, the
probability that exactly one station attempts a transmission in a slot and therefore acquires
the medium. This is the binomial probability that any one station attempts to transmit and the
others do not:
A = aN
1 bP111-P2N-1
= NP11 - P2N-1
518
CHAPTER 16 / HIGH-SPEED LANS
This function takes on a maximum over P when
P = 1/N:
A = 11 - 1/N2N-1
We are interested in the maximum because we want to calculate the maximum throughput of
the medium. It should be clear that the maximum throughput will be achieved if we maximize
the probability of successful seizure of the medium. Therefore, the following rule should be
enforced: During periods of heavy usage, a station should restrain its offered load to 1/N.
(This assumes that each station knows the value of N. To derive an expression for maximum
possible throughput, we live with this assumption.) On the other hand, during periods of light
usage, maximum utilization cannot be achieved because the load is too low; this region is not
of interest here.
Now we can estimate the mean length of a contention interval, w, in slots:
q
i slots in a row with a collision or no
E[w] =
i
* Pr £ transmission followed by a slot with one≥
a
i=1
transmission
q
=
i11 - A2iA
a
i=1
The summation converges to
1 - A
E[w] =
A
We can now determine the maximum utilization, which is the length of a transmission inter-
val as a proportion of a cycle consisting of a transmission and a contention interval:
1>2a
1
U =
=
(16.5)
1>2a + 11 - A2>A
1 + 2a11 - A2>A
Figure 16.16 shows normalized throughput as a function of a for two values of N.
Throughput declines as a increases. This is to be expected. Figure 16.16 also shows throughput
as a function of N. The performance of CSMA/CD decreases because of the increased likeli-
hood of collision or no transmission.
It is interesting to note the asymptotic value of U as N increases. We need to know that
N-1
1
1
lim
a1 -
=
Then we have
N:q
Nb
e.
1
lim
U =
(16.6)
N:q
1 + 3.44a
APPENDIX 16C SCRAMBLING
For some digital data encoding techniques, a long string of binary zeros or ones in a trans-
mission can degrade system performance.Also, other transmission properties, such as spec-
tral properties, are enhanced if the data are more nearly of a random nature rather than
constant or repetitive. A technique commonly used to improve signal quality is scrambling
and descrambling.The scrambling process tends to make the data appear more random.
APPENDIX 16C SCRAMBLING
519
1.0
1.0
0.8
0.8
a
0.1
0.6
0.6
0.4
0.4
N
2
a
1.0
N
10
0.2
0.2
0.0
2
3
4
5 6 789
2
3
4
5 6 789
0.0
0.1
1
10
5
10
15
20
25
a
N
Figure 16.16
CSMA/CD Throughput as a Function of a and N
The scrambling process consists of a feedback shift register, and the matching descram-
bler consists of a feedforward shift register. An example is shown in Figure 16.17. In this
example, the scrambled data sequence may be expressed as follows:
Bm = Am Bm - 3
Bm - 5
(16.7)
where
indicates the exclusive-or operation. The shift register is initialized to contain all
zeros. The descrambled sequence is
5
5
4
4
3
3
2
2
1
1
A
B B
A
(a) Scrambler
(b) Descrambler
Figure 16.17
Scrambler and Descrambler
520
CHAPTER 16 / HIGH-SPEED LANS
10111
0
0
0
1
1
0
1
0
0
1
B
P
1
0
0
1
0
1
1
0
1
01 01000
0
0
1
1
1
A
1
0
0
101
1
11110
1
00 101
110110
100101
100110
100101
11
0
0
1
1
10
0
1
0
1
1
0
1
1
0
1
1
0
0
1
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
1
1
0
1
0
0
0
(a) Scrambling
1
0
1
1100011
0
1
0
0
1
B
1
0
0
1
0
1
P
1
0
1
1100011
0
1
0
0
1
1
0
1
1
1
00 01101
0
0
1
1
0
1
1
1
0
0
0
1101001
C
A
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
00 00111
(b) Descrambling
3
5
Figure 16.18
Example of Scrambling with P1X2
1
X
X
Cm = Bm Bm - 3
Bm - 5
= 1Am
Bm - 3
Bm - 52
Bm - 3
Bm - 5
= Am1
Bm - 3
Bm - 32
1Bm-5
Bm - 5
2
= Am
(16.8)
As can be seen, the descrambled output is the original sequence.
We can represent this process with the use of polynomials. Thus, for this example, the
polynomial is
The input is divided by this polynomial to produce the
P1X2 = 1 + X3 + X5.
scrambled sequence. At the receiver the received scrambled signal is multiplied by the same
polynomial to reproduce the original input. Figure 16.18 is an example using the polynomial
P(X) and an input of 101010100000111.4 The scrambled transmission, produced by dividing
by P(X) (100101), is 101110001101001. When this number is multiplied by P(X), we get the
4We use the convention that the leftmost bit is the first bit presented to the scrambler; thus the bits can be
labeled
A0A1A2 Á .
Similarly, the polynomial is converted to a bit string from left to right. The polynomial
B
2 + . . . is represented as B0B1B2
Á.
0
+ B1X + B2X
APPENDIX 16C SCRAMBLING
521
original input. Note that the input sequence contains the periodic sequence 10101010 as well
as a long string of zeros. The scrambler effectively removes both patterns.
For the MLT-3 scheme, which is used for 100BASE-TX, the scrambling equation is:
Bm = Am X9
X11
In this case the shift register consists of nine elements, used in the same manner as the
5-element register in Figure 16.17. However, in the case of MLT-3, the shift register is not fed
by the output
Instead, after each bit transmission, the register is shifted one unit up, and
Bm .
the result of the previous XOR is fed into the first unit. This can be expressed as:
Xi1t2 = Xi - 11t - 12;
2 … i … 9
X11t2 = X91t - 12
X111t - 12
If the shift register contains all zeros, no scrambling occurs (we just have
) the
Bm = Am
above equations produce no change in the shift register. Accordingly, the standard calls for
initializing the shift register with all ones and re-initializing the register to all ones when it
takes on a value of all zeros.
For the 4D-PAM5 scheme, two scrambling equations are used, one in each direction:
Bm = Am Bm - 13
Bm - 33
Bm = Am Bm - 20
Bm - 33
CHAPTER17
WIRELESS LANS
17.1
Overview
17.2
Wireless LAN Technology
17.3
IEEE 802.11 Architecture and Services
17.4
IEEE 802.11 Medium Access Control
17.5
IEEE 802.11 Physical Layer
17.6
IEEE 802.11 Security Considerations
17.7
Recommended Reading and Web Sites
17.8
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
522
17.1 / OVERVIEW
523
Investigators have published numerous reports of birds taking turns vocalizing; the
bird spoken to gave its full attention to the speaker and never vocalized at the same
time, as if the two were holding a conversation. Researchers and scholars who have
studied the data on avian communication carefully write the (a) the communica-
tion code of birds such has crows has not been broken by any means; (b) probably
all birds have wider vocabularies than anyone realizes; and (c) greater complexity
and depth are recognized in avian communication as research progresses.
—The Human Nature of Birds, Theodore Barber
KEY POINTS
• The principal technologies used for wireless LANs are infrared,
spread spectrum, and narrowband microwave.
• The IEEE 802.11 standard defines a set of services and physical
layer options for wireless LANs.
• The IEEE 802.11 services include managing associations, delivering
data, and security.
• The IEEE
802.11 physical layer includes infrared and spread
spectrum and covers a range of data rates.
In just the past few years, wireless LANs have come to occupy a significant niche
in the local area network market. Increasingly, organizations are finding that
wireless LANs are an indispensable adjunct to traditional wired LANs, to satisfy
requirements for mobility, relocation, ad hoc networking, and coverage of loca-
tions difficult to wire.
This chapter provides a survey of wireless LANs. We begin with an
overview that looks at the motivations for using wireless LANs and summarize
the various approaches in current use. The next section examines the three prin-
cipal types of wireless LANs, classified according to transmission technology:
infrared, spread spectrum, and narrowband microwave.
The most prominent specification for wireless LANs was developed by
the IEEE 802.11 working group. The remainder of the chapter focuses on this
standard.
17.1 OVERVIEW
As the name suggests, a wireless LAN is one that makes use of a wireless transmis-
sion medium. Until relatively recently, wireless LANs were little used. The reasons
524
CHAPTER 17 / WIRELESS LANS
for this included high prices, low data rates, occupational safety concerns, and licens-
ing requirements. As these problems have been addressed, the popularity of wire-
less LANs has grown rapidly.
In this section, we survey the key wireless LAN application areas and then
look at the requirements for and advantages of wireless LANs.
Wireless LAN Applications
[PAHL95] lists four application areas for wireless LANs: LAN extension, cross-
building interconnect, nomadic access, and ad hoc networks. Let us consider each of
these in turn.
LAN Extension Early wireless LAN products, introduced in the late 1980s, were
marketed as substitutes for traditional wired LANs. A wireless LAN saves the cost
of the installation of LAN cabling and eases the task of relocation and other modi-
fications to network structure. However, this motivation for wireless LANs was
overtaken by events. First, as awareness of the need for LANs became greater,
architects designed new buildings to include extensive prewiring for data applica-
tions. Second, with advances in data transmission technology, there is an increasing
reliance on twisted pair cabling for LANs and, in particular, Category 3 and Cate-
gory 5 unshielded twisted pair. Most older buildings are already wired with an abun-
dance of Category 3 cable, and many newer buildings are prewired with Category 5.
Thus, the use of a wireless LAN to replace wired LANs has not happened to any
great extent.
However, in a number of environments, there is a role for the wireless LAN as
an alternative to a wired LAN. Examples include buildings with large open areas,
such as manufacturing plants, stock exchange trading floors, and warehouses; histor-
ical buildings with insufficient twisted pair and where drilling holes for new wiring is
prohibited; and small offices where installation and maintenance of wired LANs is
not economical. In all of these cases, a wireless LAN provides an effective and more
attractive alternative. In most of these cases, an organization will also have a wired
LAN to support servers and some stationary workstations. For example, a manufac-
turing facility typically has an office area that is separate from the factory floor but
that must be linked to it for networking purposes. Therefore, typically, a wireless
LAN will be linked into a wired LAN on the same premises. Thus, this application
area is referred to as LAN extension.
Figure 17.1 indicates a simple wireless LAN configuration that is typical of
many environments. There is a backbone wired LAN, such as Ethernet, that sup-
ports servers, workstations, and one or more bridges or routers to link with other
networks. In addition, there is a control module (CM) that acts as an interface to a
wireless LAN. The control module includes either bridge or router functionality to
link the wireless LAN to the backbone. It includes some sort of access control logic,
such as a polling or token-passing scheme, to regulate the access from the end sys-
tems. Note that some of the end systems are standalone devices, such as a worksta-
tion or a server. Hubs or other user modules (UMs) that control a number of
stations off a wired LAN may also be part of the wireless LAN configuration.
The configuration of Figure 17.1 can be referred to as a single-cell wireless
LAN; all of the wireless end systems are within range of a single control module.
17.1 / OVERVIEW
525
Ethernet
Server
10-Mbps
UM
Ethernet switch
CM
UM user module
CM control module
100-Mbps
Ethernet switch
Bridge or router
Figure 17.1
Example Single-Cell Wireless LAN Configuration
Another common configuration, suggested by Figure 17.2, is a multiple-cell wireless
LAN. In this case, there are multiple control modules interconnected by a wired
LAN. Each control module supports a number of wireless end systems within its
transmission range. For example, with an infrared LAN, transmission is limited to a
single room; therefore, one cell is needed for each room in an office building that
requires wireless support.
Cross-Building Interconnect Another use of wireless LAN technology is to
connect LANs in nearby buildings, be they wired or wireless LANs. In this case, a
point-to-point wireless link is used between two buildings. The devices so connected
are typically bridges or routers. This single point-to-point link is not a LAN per se,
but it is usual to include this application under the heading of wireless LAN.
Nomadic Access Nomadic access provides a wireless link between a LAN hub
and a mobile data terminal equipped with an antenna, such as a laptop computer or
notepad computer. One example of the utility of such a connection is to enable an
employee returning from a trip to transfer data from a personal portable computer
to a server in the office. Nomadic access is also useful in an extended environment
such as a campus or a business operating out of a cluster of buildings. In both of
526
CHAPTER 17 / WIRELESS LANS
Frequency 2
UM
UM
UM
UM
UM
UM
Frequency 1
CM
Frequency 3
UM
CM
UM
CM
UM
UM
UM
UM
100-Mbps
Ethernet switch
Bridge or router
Figure 17.2
Example Multiple-Cell Wireless LAN Configuration
these cases, users may move around with their portable computers and may wish
access to the servers on a wired LAN from various locations.
Ad Hoc Networking An ad hoc network is a peer-to-peer network (no central-
ized server) set up temporarily to meet some immediate need. For example, a group
of employees, each with a laptop or palmtop computer, may convene in a confer-
ence room for a business or classroom meeting. The employees link their computers
in a temporary network just for the duration of the meeting.
Figure 17.3 suggests the differences between a wireless LAN that supports LAN
extension and nomadic access requirements and an ad hoc wireless LAN. In the former
case, the wireless LAN forms a stationary infrastructure consisting of one or more cells
with a control module for each cell. Within a cell, there may be a number of stationary
end systems. Nomadic stations can move from one cell to another. In contrast, there is
no infrastructure for an ad hoc network. Rather, a peer collection of stations within
range of each other may dynamically configure themselves into a temporary network.
Wireless LAN Requirements
A wireless LAN must meet the same sort of requirements typical of any LAN,
including high capacity, ability to cover short distances, full connectivity among
attached stations, and broadcast capability. In addition, there are a number of
17.1 / OVERVIEW
527
High-speed backbone wired LAN
Nomadic
station
Cell
(a) Infrastructure wireless LAN
(b) Ad hoc LAN
Figure 17.3
Wireless LAN Configurations
requirements specific to the wireless LAN environment. The following are among
the most important requirements for wireless LANs:
• Throughput: The medium access control protocol should make as efficient use
as possible of the wireless medium to maximize capacity.
• Number of nodes: Wireless LANs may need to support hundreds of nodes
across multiple cells.
• Connection to backbone LAN: In most cases, interconnection with stations on
a wired backbone LAN is required. For infrastructure wireless LANs, this is
easily accomplished through the use of control modules that connect to both
528
CHAPTER 17 / WIRELESS LANS
types of LANs. There may also need to be accommodation for mobile users
and ad hoc wireless networks.
•
Service area: A typical coverage area for a wireless LAN has a diameter of
100 to 300 m.
•
Battery power consumption: Mobile workers use battery-powered worksta-
tions that need to have a long battery life when used with wireless adapters.
This suggests that a MAC protocol that requires mobile nodes to monitor
access points constantly or engage in frequent handshakes with a base station
is inappropriate. Typical wireless LAN implementations have features to
reduce power consumption while not using the network, such as a sleep mode.
•
Transmission robustness and security: Unless properly designed, a wireless
LAN may be especially vulnerable to interference and eavesdropping. The
design of a wireless LAN must permit reliable transmission even in a noisy
environment and should provide some level of security from eavesdropping.
•
Collocated network operation: As wireless LANs become more popular, it is
quite likely for two or more wireless LANs to operate in the same area or in
some area where interference between the LANs is possible. Such interfer-
ence may thwart the normal operation of a MAC algorithm and may allow
unauthorized access to a particular LAN.
•
License-free operation: Users would prefer to buy and operate wireless LAN
products without having to secure a license for the frequency band used by the
LAN.
•
Handoff/roaming: The MAC protocol used in the wireless LAN should enable
mobile stations to move from one cell to another.
•
Dynamic configuration: The MAC addressing and network management
aspects of the LAN should permit dynamic and automated addition, deletion,
and relocation of end systems without disruption to other users.
17.2 WIRELESS LAN TECHNOLOGY
Wireless LANs are generally categorized according to the transmission technique that
is used. All current wireless LAN products fall into one of the following categories:
• Infrared (IR) LANs: An individual cell of an IR LAN is limited to a single
room, because infrared light does not penetrate opaque walls.
• Spread spectrum LANs: This type of LAN makes use of spread spectrum trans-
mission technology. In most cases, these LANs operate in the ISM (industrial,
scientific, and medical) microwave bands so that no Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) licensing is required for their use in the United States.
Infrared LANs
Optical wireless communication in the infrared portion of the spectrum is com-
monplace in most homes, where it is used for a variety of remote control devices.
17.2 / WIRELESS LAN TECHNOLOGY
529
More recently, attention has turned to the use of infrared technology to construct
wireless LANs. In this section, we begin with a comparison of the characteristics of
infrared LANs with those of radio LANs and then look at some of the details of
infrared LANs.
Strengths and Weaknesses Infrared offers a number of significant advantages
over microwave approaches. The spectrum for infrared is virtually unlimited, which
presents the possibility of achieving extremely high data rates. The infrared spec-
trum is unregulated worldwide, which is not true of some portions of the microwave
spectrum.
In addition, infrared shares some properties of visible light that make it attrac-
tive for certain types of LAN configurations. Infrared light is diffusely reflected by
light-colored objects; thus it is possible to use ceiling reflection to achieve coverage
of an entire room. Infrared light does not penetrate walls or other opaque objects.
This has two advantages: First, infrared communications can be more easily secured
against eavesdropping than microwave; and second, a separate infrared installation
can be operated in every room in a building without interference, enabling the con-
struction of very large infrared LANs.
Another strength of infrared is that the equipment is relatively inexpensive
and simple. Infrared data transmission typically uses intensity modulation, so that
IR receivers need to detect only the amplitude of optical signals, whereas most
microwave receivers must detect frequency or phase.
The infrared medium also exhibits some drawbacks. Many indoor environ-
ments experience rather intense infrared background radiation, from sunlight and
indoor lighting. This ambient radiation appears as noise in an infrared receiver,
requiring the use of transmitters of higher power than would otherwise be required
and also limiting the range. However, increases in transmitter power are limited by
concerns of eye safety and excessive power consumption.
Transmission Techniques Three alternative transmission techniques are in
common use for IR data transmission: the transmitted signal can be focused and
aimed (as in a remote TV control); it can be radiated omnidirectionally; or it can be
reflected from a light-colored ceiling.
Directed-beam IR can be used to create point-to-point links. In this mode, the
range depends on the emitted power and on the degree of focusing. A focused IR data
link can have a range of kilometers. Such ranges are not needed for constructing indoor
wireless LANs. However, an IR link can be used for cross-building interconnect
between bridges or routers located in buildings within a line of sight of each other.
One indoor use of point-to-point IR links is to set up a ring LAN. A set of IR
transceivers can be positioned so that data circulate around them in a ring configu-
ration. Each transceiver supports a workstation or a hub of stations, with the hub
providing a bridging function.
An omnidirectional configuration involves a single base station that is within
line of sight of all other stations on the LAN. Typically, this station is mounted on the
ceiling. The base station acts as a multiport repeater. The ceiling transmitter broad-
casts an omnidirectional signal that can be received by all of the other IR trans-
ceivers in the area. These other transceivers transmit a directional beam aimed at
the ceiling base unit.
530
CHAPTER 17 / WIRELESS LANS
In a diffused configuration, all of the IR transmitters are focused and aimed at
a point on a diffusely reflecting ceiling. IR radiation striking the ceiling is reradiated
omnidirectionally and picked up by all of the receivers in the area.
Spread Spectrum LANs
Currently, the most popular type of wireless LAN uses spread spectrum techniques.
Configuration Except for quite small offices, a spread spectrum wireless LAN
makes use of a multiple-cell arrangement, as was illustrated in Figure 17.2. Adjacent
cells make use of different center frequencies within the same band to avoid inter-
ference.
Within a given cell, the topology can be either hub or peer to peer. The hub
topology is indicated in Figure 17.2. In a hub topology, the hub is typically mounted
on the ceiling and connected to a backbone wired LAN to provide connectivity to
stations attached to the wired LAN and to stations that are part of wireless LANs in
other cells. The hub may also control access, as in the IEEE 802.11 point coordina-
tion function, described subsequently. The hub may also control access by acting as
a multiport repeater with similar functionality to Ethernet multiport repeaters. In
this case, all stations in the cell transmit only to the hub and receive only from the
hub. Alternatively, and regardless of access control mechanism, each station may
broadcast using an omnidirectional antenna so that all other stations in the cell may
receive; this corresponds to a logical bus configuration.
One other potential function of a hub is automatic handoff of mobile stations.
At any time, a number of stations are dynamically assigned to a given hub based on
proximity. When the hub senses a weakening signal, it can automatically hand off to
the nearest adjacent hub.
A peer-to-peer topology is one in which there is no hub. A MAC algorithm such
as CSMA is used to control access. This topology is appropriate for ad hoc LANs.
Transmission Issues A desirable, though not necessary, characteristic of a wireless
LAN is that it be usable without having to go through a licensing procedure. The
licensing regulations differ from one country to another, which complicates this objec-
tive. Within the United States, the FCC has authorized two unlicensed applications
within the ISM band: spread spectrum systems, which can operate at up to 1 watt, and
very low power systems, which can operate at up to 0.5 watts. Since the FCC opened
up this band, its use for spread spectrum wireless LANs has become popular.
In the United States, three microwave bands have been set aside for unlicensed
spread spectrum use: 902-928 MHz (915-MHz band), 2.4-2.4835 GHz (2.4-GHz band),
and 5.725-5.825 GHz (5.8-GHz band). Of these, the 2.4 GHz is also used in this manner
in Europe and Japan. The higher the frequency, the higher the potential bandwidth, so
the three bands are of increasing order of attractiveness from a capacity point of view.
In addition, the potential for interference must be considered. There are a number of
devices that operate at around 900 MHz, including cordless telephones, wireless micro-
phones, and amateur radio. There are fewer devices operating at 2.4 GHz; one notable
example is the microwave oven, which tends to have greater leakage of radiation with
increasing age. At present there is little competition at the 5.8-GHz-band; however, the
higher the frequency band, in general the more expensive the equipment.
17.3 / IEEE 802.11 ARCHITECTURE AND SERVICES
531
17.3 IEEE 802.11 ARCHITECTURE AND SERVICES
In 1990, the IEEE 802 Committee formed a new working group, IEEE 802.11, specifi-
cally devoted to wireless LANs, with a charter to develop a MAC protocol and physical
medium specification. The initial interest was in developing a wireless LAN operating
in the ISM (industrial, scientific, and medical) band. Since that time, the demand for
WLANs, at different frequencies and data rates, has exploded. Keeping pace with this
demand, the IEEE 802.11 working group has issued an ever-expanding list of standards
(Table 17.1). Table 17.2 briefly defines key terms used in the IEEE 802.11 standard.
Table 17.1
IEEE 802.11 Standards
Standard
Scope
Medium access control (MAC): One common MAC for WLAN applications
IEEE 802.11
Physical layer: Infrared at 1 and 2 Mbps
Physical layer: 2.4-GHz FHSS at 1 and 2 Mbps
Physical layer: 2.4-GHz DSSS at 1 and 2 Mbps
IEEE 802.11a
Physical layer: 5-GHz OFDM at rates from 6 to 54 Mbps
IEEE 802.11b
Physical layer: 2.4-GHz DSSS at 5.5 and 11 Mbps
IEEE 802.11c
Bridge operation at 802.11 MAC layer
IEEE 802.11d
Physical layer: Extend operation of 802.11 WLANs to new regulatory domains
(countries)
IEEE 802.11e
MAC: Enhance to improve quality of service and enhance security mechanisms
IEEE 802.11f
Recommended practices for multivendor access point interoperability
IEEE 802.11g
Physical layer: Extend 802.11b to data rates
7 20 Mbps
IEEE 802.11h
Physical/MAC: Enhance IEEE 802.11a to add indoor and outdoor channel selection and
to improve spectrum and transmit power management
IEEE 802.11i
MAC: Enhance security and authentication mechanisms
IEEE 802.11j
Physical: Enhance IEEE 802.11a to conform to Japanese requirements
IEEE 802.11k
Radio resource measurement enhancements to provide interface to higher layers for
radio and network measurements
IEEE 802.11m
Maintenance of IEEE 802.11-1999 standard with technical and editorial corrections
IEEE 802.11n
Physical/MAC: Enhancements to enable higher throughput
IEEE 802.11p
Physical/MAC: Wireless access in vehicular environments
IEEE 802.11r
Physical/MAC: Fast roaming (fast BSS transition)
IEEE 802.11s
Physical/MAC: ESS mesh networking
IEEE 802.11,2
Recommended practice for the evaluation of 802.11 wireless performance
IEEE 802.11u
Physical/MAC: Interworking with external networks
532
CHAPTER 17 / WIRELESS LANS
Table 17.2
IEEE 802.11 Terminology
Access point (AP)
Any entity that has station functionality and provides access to the distribution system
via the wireless medium for associated stations
Basic service set
A set of stations controlled by a single coordination function
(BSS)
Coordination
The logical function that determines when a station operating within a BSS is permitted
function
to transmit and may be able to receive PDUs
Distribution system
A system used to interconnect a set of BSSs and integrated LANs to create an (ESS)
DS
Extended service
A set of one or more interconnected BSSs and integrated LANs that appear as a
set (ESS)
single BSS to the LLC layer at any station associated with one of these BSSs
MAC protocol data
The unit of data exchanged between two peer MAC entites using the
unit (MPDU)
services of the physical layer
MAC service data
Information that is delivered as a unit between MAC users
unit (MSDU)
Station
Any device that contains an IEEE 802.11 conformant MAC and physical layer
The Wi-Fi Alliance
The first 802.11 standard to gain broad industry acceptance was 802.11b. Although
802.11b products are all based on the same standard, there is always a concern
whether products from different vendors will successfully interoperate. To meet this
concern, the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (WECA), an industry con-
sortium, was formed in 1999. This organization, subsequently renamed the Wi-Fi
(Wireless Fidelity) Alliance, created a test suite to certify interoperability for
802.11b products. The term used for certified 802.11b products is Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi certi-
fication has been extended to 802.11g products,. The Wi-Fi Alliance has also devel-
oped a certification process for 802.11a products, called Wi-Fi5. The Wi-Fi Alliance
is concerned with a range of market areas for WLANs, including enterprise, home,
and hot spots.
IEEE 802.11 Architecture
Figure 17.4 illustrates the model developed by the 802.11 working group. The
smallest building block of a wireless LAN is a basic service set (BSS), which con-
sists of some number of stations executing the same MAC protocol and competing
for access to the same shared wireless medium. A BSS may be isolated or it may
connect to a backbone distribution system (DS) through an access point (AP).
The AP functions as a bridge and a relay point. In a BSS, client stations do not
communicate directly with one another. Rather, if one station in the BSS wants to
communicate with another station in the same BSS, the MAC frame is first sent
from the originating station to the AP, and then from the AP to the destination
station. Similarly, a MAC frame from a station in the BSS to a remote station is
sent from the local station to the AP and then relayed by the AP over the DS on
its way to the destination station. The BSS generally corresponds to what is
referred to as a cell in the literature.The DS can be a switch, a wired network, or a
wireless network.
17.3 / IEEE 802.11 ARCHITECTURE AND SERVICES
533
IEEE 802.x LAN
Extended
service set
Portal
Distribution system
AP
AP
Basic
STA1
STA5
service set
STA7
STA2
STA6
STA4
Basic
STA3
service set
STA station
AP access point
Figure 17.4
IEEE 802.11 Architecture
When all the stations in the BSS are mobile stations, with no connection to
other BSSs, the BSS is called an independent BSS (IBSS). An IBSS is typically an ad
hoc network. In an IBSS, the stations all communicate directly, and no AP is
involved.
A simple configuration is shown in Figure 17.4, in which each station belongs
to a single BSS; that is, each station is within wireless range only of other stations
within the same BSS. It is also possible for two BSSs to overlap geographically, so
that a single station could participate in more than one BSS. Further, the association
between a station and a BSS is dynamic. Stations may turn off, come within range,
and go out of range.
An extended service set (ESS) consists of two or more basic service sets inter-
connected by a distribution system. Typically, the distribution system is a wired
backbone LAN but can be any communications network. The extended service set
appears as a single logical LAN to the logical link control (LLC) level.
Figure 17.4 indicates that an access point (AP) is implemented as part of a sta-
tion; the AP is the logic within a station that provides access to the DS by providing
DS services in addition to acting as a station. To integrate the IEEE 802.11 architec-
ture with a traditional wired LAN, a portal is used. The portal logic is implemented
in a device, such as a bridge or router, that is part of the wired LAN and that is
attached to the DS.
IEEE 802.11 Services
IEEE 802.11 defines nine services that need to be provided by the wireless LAN to
provide functionality equivalent to that which is inherent to wired LANs. Table 17.3
lists the services and indicates two ways of categorizing them.
534
CHAPTER 17 / WIRELESS LANS
Table 17.3
IEEE 802.11 Services
Service
Provider
Used to Support
Association
Distribution system
MSDU delivery
Authentication
Station
LAN access and security
Deauthentication
Station
LAN access and security
Dissassociation
Distribution system
MSDU delivery
Distribution
Distribution system
MSDU delivery
Integration
Distribution system
MSDU delivery
MSDU delivery
Station
MSDU delivery
Privacy
Station
LAN access and security
Reassocation
Distribution system
MSDU delivery
1. The service provider can be either the station or the DS. Station services are
implemented in every 802.11 station, including AP stations. Distribution ser-
vices are provided between BSSs; these services may be implemented in an AP
or in another special-purpose device attached to the distribution system.
2. Three of the services are used to control IEEE 802.11 LAN access and confi-
dentiality. Six of the services are used to support delivery of MAC service data
units (MSDUs) between stations. The MSDU is a block of data passed down
from the MAC user to the MAC layer; typically this is a LLC PDU. If the
MSDU is too large to be transmitted in a single MAC frame, it may be frag-
mented and transmitted in a series of MAC frames. Fragmentation is discussed
in Section 17.4.
Following the IEEE 802.11 document, we next discuss the services in an order
designed to clarify the operation of an IEEE 802.11 ESS network. MSDU delivery,
which is the basic service, has already been mentioned. Services related to security
are discussed in Section17.6.
Distribution of Messages within a DS The two services involved with the dis-
tribution of messages within a DS are distribution and integration. Distribution is the
primary service used by stations to exchange MAC frames when the frame must tra-
verse the DS to get from a station in one BSS to a station in another BSS. For example,
suppose a frame is to be sent from station 2 (STA 2) to STA 7 in Figure 17.4.The frame
is sent from STA 2 to STA 1, which is the AP for this BSS. The AP gives the frame to
the DS, which has the job of directing the frame to the AP associated with STA 5 in the
target BSS. STA 5 receives the frame and forwards it to STA 7. How the message is
transported through the DS is beyond the scope of the IEEE 802.11 standard.
If the two stations that are communicating are within the same BSS, then the
distribution service logically goes through the single AP of that BSS.
The integration service enables transfer of data between a station on an IEEE
802.11 LAN and a station on an integrated IEEE 802.x LAN. The term integrated
17.4 / IEEE 802.11 MEDIUM ACCESS CONTROL
535
refers to a wired LAN that is physically connected to the DS and whose stations
may be logically connected to an IEEE 802.11 LAN via the integration service. The
integration service takes care of any address translation and media conversion logic
required for the exchange of data.
Association-Related Services The primary purpose of the MAC layer is to
transfer MSDUs between MAC entities; this purpose is fulfilled by the distribution
service. For that service to function, it requires information about stations within the
ESS that is provided by the association-related services. Before the distribution ser-
vice can deliver data to or accept data from a station, that station must be associated.
Before looking at the concept of association, we need to describe the concept of
mobility. The standard defines three transition types, based on mobility:
• No transition: A station of this type is either stationary or moves only within
the direct communication range of the communicating stations of a single BSS.
• BSS transition: This is defined as a station movement from one BSS to another
BSS within the same ESS. In this case, delivery of data to the station requires
that the addressing capability be able to recognize the new location of the sta-
tion.
• ESS transition: This is defined as a station movement from a BSS in one ESS
to a BSS within another ESS. This case is supported only in the sense that the
station can move. Maintenance of upper-layer connections supported by
802.11 cannot be guaranteed. In fact, disruption of service is likely to occur.
To deliver a message within a DS, the distribution service needs to know
where the destination station is located. Specifically, the DS needs to know the iden-
tity of the AP to which the message should be delivered in order for that message to
reach the destination station. To meet this requirement, a station must maintain an
association with the AP within its current BSS. Three services relate to this require-
ment:
• Association: Establishes an initial association between a station and an AP. Before
a station can transmit or receive frames on a wireless LAN, its identity and address
must be known. For this purpose, a station must establish an association with an
AP within a particular BSS. The AP can then communicate this information to
other APs within the ESS to facilitate routing and delivery of addressed frames.
• Reassociation: Enables an established association to be transferred from one
AP to another, allowing a mobile station to move from one BSS to another.
• Disassociation: A notification from either a station or an AP that an existing
association is terminated. A station should give this notification before leaving
an ESS or shutting down. However, the MAC management facility protects
itself against stations that disappear without notification.
17.4 IEEE 802.11 MEDIUM ACCESS CONTROL
The IEEE 802.11 MAC layer covers three functional areas: reliable data delivery,
access control, and security. This section covers the first two topics.
536
CHAPTER 17 / WIRELESS LANS
Reliable Data Delivery
As with any wireless network, a wireless LAN using the IEEE 802.11 physical and
MAC layers is subject to considerable unreliability. Noise, interference, and other
propagation effects result in the loss of a significant number of frames. Even with
error correction codes, a number of MAC frames may not successfully be received.
This situation can be dealt with by reliability mechanisms at a higher layer, such as
TCP. However, timers used for retransmission at higher layers are typically on the
order of seconds. It is therefore more efficient to deal with errors at the MAC level.
For this purpose, IEEE 802.11 includes a frame exchange protocol. When a station
receives a data frame from another station, it returns an acknowledgment (ACK)
frame to the source station. This exchange is treated as an atomic unit, not to be
interrupted by a transmission from any other station. If the source does not receive
an ACK within a short period of time, either because its data frame was damaged or
because the returning ACK was damaged, the source retransmits the frame.
Thus, the basic data transfer mechanism in IEEE 802.11 involves an exchange
of two frames. To further enhance reliability, a four-frame exchange may be used. In
this scheme, a source first issues a Request to Send (RTS) frame to the destination.
The destination then responds with a Clear to Send (CTS). After receiving the CTS,
the source transmits the data frame, and the destination responds with an ACK. The
RTS alerts all stations that are within reception range of the source that an
exchange is under way; these stations refrain from transmission in order to avoid a
collision between two frames transmitted at the same time. Similarly, the CTS alerts
all stations that are within reception range of the destination that an exchange is
under way. The RTS/CTS portion of the exchange is a required function of the MAC
but may be disabled.
Medium Access Control
The 802.11 working group considered two types of proposals for a MAC algorithm:
distributed access protocols, which, like Ethernet, distribute the decision to transmit
over all the nodes using a carrier sense mechanism; and centralized access protocols,
which involve regulation of transmission by a centralized decision maker. A distrib-
uted access protocol makes sense for an ad hoc network of peer workstations (typi-
cally an IBSS) and may also be attractive in other wireless LAN configurations that
consist primarily of bursty traffic. A centralized access protocol is natural for config-
urations in which a number of wireless stations are interconnected with each other
and some sort of base station that attaches to a backbone wired LAN; it is especially
useful if some of the data is time sensitive or high priority.
The end result for 802.11 is a MAC algorithm called DFWMAC (distributed
foundation wireless MAC) that provides a distributed access control mechanism
with an optional centralized control built on top of that. Figure 17.5 illustrates the
architecture. The lower sublayer of the MAC layer is the distributed coordination
function (DCF). DCF uses a contention algorithm to provide access to all traffic.
Ordinary asynchronous traffic directly uses DCF. The point coordination function
(PCF) is a centralized MAC algorithm used to provide contention-free service. PCF
is built on top of DCF and exploits features of DCF to assure access for its users. Let
us consider these two sublayers in turn.
17.4 / IEEE 802.11 MEDIUM ACCESS CONTROL
537
Logical link control
Contention-free
service
Contention
service
Point
coordination
function (PCF)
MAC
layer
Distributed coordination function
(DCF)
2.4-Ghz
2.4-Ghz
Infrared
5-Ghz
2.4-Ghz
2.4-Ghz
frequency-
direct-
1 Mbps
orthogonal
direct
DS-SS
hopping
sequence
2 Mbps
FDM
sequence
6, 9, 12,
spread
spread
6, 9, 12,
spread
18, 24, 36,
spectrum
spectrum
18, 24, 36,
spectrum
48, 54 Mbps
1 Mbps
1 Mbps
48, 54 Mbps
5.5 Mbps
2 Mbps
2 Mbps
11 Mbps
IEEE 802.11
IEEE 802.11a IEEE 802.11b IEEE 802.11g
Figure 17.5
IEEE 802.11 Protocol Architecture
Distributed Coordination Function The DCF sublayer makes use of a sim-
ple CSMA (carrier sense multiple access) algorithm. If a station has a MAC frame
to transmit, it listens to the medium. If the medium is idle, the station may transmit;
otherwise the station must wait until the current transmission is complete before
transmitting. The DCF does not include a collision detection function
(i.e.,
CSMA/CD) because collision detection is not practical on a wireless network. The
dynamic range of the signals on the medium is very large, so that a transmitting sta-
tion cannot effectively distinguish incoming weak signals from noise and the effects
of its own transmission.
To ensure the smooth and fair functioning of this algorithm, DCF includes a
set of delays that amounts to a priority scheme. Let us start by considering a single
delay known as an interframe space (IFS). In fact, there are three different IFS val-
ues, but the algorithm is best explained by initially ignoring this detail. Using an IFS,
the rules for CSMA access are as follows (Figure 17.6):
1. A station with a frame to transmit senses the medium. If the medium is idle, it
waits to see if the medium remains idle for a time equal to IFS. If so, the station
may transmit immediately.
538
CHAPTER 17 / WIRELESS LANS
Wait for frame
to transmit
No
Medium
idle?
Yes
Wait IFS
Still
No
Wait until current
idle?
transmission ends
Yes
Wait IFS
Transmit frame
No
Still
idle?
Yes
Exponential backoff
while medium idle
Transmit frame
Figure 17.6
IEEE 802.11 Medium Access Control Logic
2. If the medium is busy (either because the station initially finds the medium busy
or because the medium becomes busy during the IFS idle time), the station
defers transmission and continues to monitor the medium until the current trans-
mission is over.
3. Once the current transmission is over, the station delays another IFS. If the
medium remains idle for this period, then the station backs off a random amount
of time and again senses the medium. If the medium is still idle, the station may
transmit. During the backoff time, if the medium becomes busy, the backoff timer
is halted and resumes when the medium becomes idle.
4. If the transmission is unsuccessful, which is determined by the absence of an
acknowledgement, then it is assumed that a collision has occurred.
To ensure that backoff maintains stability, binary exponential backoff,
described in Chapter 16, is used. Binary exponential backoff provides a means of
17.4 / IEEE 802.11 MEDIUM ACCESS CONTROL
539
handling a heavy load. Repeated failed attempts to transmit result in longer and
longer backoff times, which helps to smooth out the load. Without such a backoff,
the following situation could occur: Two or more stations attempt to transmit at the
same time, causing a collision. These stations then immediately attempt to retrans-
mit, causing a new collision.
The preceding scheme is refined for DCF to provide priority-based access by
the simple expedient of using three values for IFS:
• SIFS (short IFS): The shortest IFS, used for all immediate response actions, as
explained in the following discussion
• PIFS (point coordination function IFS): A midlength IFS, used by the central-
ized controller in the PCF scheme when issuing polls
• DIFS (distributed coordination function IFS): The longest IFS, used as a min-
imum delay for asynchronous frames contending for access
Figure 17.7a illustrates the use of these time values. Consider first the SIFS.
Any station using SIFS to determine transmission opportunity has, in effect, the
highest priority, because it will always gain access in preference to a station waiting
an amount of time equal to PIFS or DIFS. The SIFS is used in the following circum-
stances:
Immediate access
when medium is free
DIFS
Contention window
longer than DIFS
PIFS
DIFS
SIFS
Busy Medium
Backoff window
Next frame
time
Slot time
Defer access
Select slot using binary exponential backoff
(a) Basic access method
Superframe (fixed nominal length)
Superframe (fixed nominal length)
Foreshortened actual
Contention-free
superframe period
Contention period
period
DCF
PCF (optional)
Busy medium
PCF (optional)
Variable length
(per superframe)
PCF
CF-Burst;
defers
asynchronous
traffic defers
(b) PCF superframe construction
Figure 17.7
IEEE 802.11 MAC Timing
540
CHAPTER 17 / WIRELESS LANS
• Acknowledgment (ACK): When a station receives a frame addressed only to
itself (not multicast or broadcast), it responds with an ACK frame after wait-
ing only for an SIFS gap. This has two desirable effects. First, because collision
detection is not used, the likelihood of collisions is greater than with
CSMA/CD, and the MAC-level ACK provides for efficient collision recovery.
Second, the SIFS can be used to provide efficient delivery of an LLC protocol
data unit (PDU) that requires multiple MAC frames. In this case, the following
scenario occurs. A station with a multiframe LLC PDU to transmit sends out
the MAC frames one at a time. Each frame is acknowledged by the recipient
after SIFS. When the source receives an ACK, it immediately (after SIFS)
sends the next frame in the sequence. The result is that once a station has con-
tended for the channel, it will maintain control of the channel until it has sent
all of the fragments of an LLC PDU.
• Clear to Send (CTS): A station can ensure that its data frame will get through
by first issuing a small Request to Send (RTS) frame. The station to which this
frame is addressed should immediately respond with a CTS frame if it is ready
to receive. All other stations receive the RTS and defer using the medium.
• Poll response: This is explained in the following discussion of PCF.
The next longest IFS interval is the PIFS. This is used by the centralized con-
troller in issuing polls and takes precedence over normal contention traffic. How-
ever, those frames transmitted using SIFS have precedence over a PCF poll.
Finally, the DIFS interval is used for all ordinary asynchronous traffic.
Point Coordination Function PCF is an alternative access method imple-
mented on top of the DCF.The operation consists of polling by the centralized polling
master (point coordinator). The point coordinator makes use of PIFS when issuing
polls. Because PIFS is smaller than DIFS, the point coordinator can seize the medium
and lock out all asynchronous traffic while it issues polls and receives responses.
As an extreme, consider the following possible scenario. A wireless network is
configured so that a number of stations with time-sensitive traffic are controlled by
the point coordinator while remaining traffic contends for access using CSMA. The
point coordinator could issue polls in a round-robin fashion to all stations configured
for polling. When a poll is issued, the polled station may respond using SIFS. If the
point coordinator receives a response, it issues another poll using PIFS. If no response
is received during the expected turnaround time, the coordinator issues a poll.
If the discipline of the preceding paragraph were implemented, the point coor-
dinator would lock out all asynchronous traffic by repeatedly issuing polls. To pre-
vent this, an interval known as the superframe is defined. During the first part of this
interval, the point coordinator issues polls in a round-robin fashion to all stations
configured for polling. The point coordinator then idles for the remainder of the
superframe, allowing a contention period for asynchronous access.
Figure 17.7b illustrates the use of the superframe. At the beginning of a super-
frame, the point coordinator may optionally seize control and issue polls for a given
period of time. This interval varies because of the variable frame size issued by
responding stations. The remainder of the superframe is available for contention-
based access. At the end of the superframe interval, the point coordinator contends
17.4 / IEEE 802.11 MEDIUM ACCESS CONTROL
541
Octets
2
2
6
6
6
2
6
0 to 2312
4
FC
D/I
Address
Address
Address
SC
Address
Frame body
CRC
FC = Frame control
D/I = Duration/connection ID
SC = Sequence control
Figure 17.8
IEEE 802.11 MAC Frame Format
for access to the medium using PIFS. If the medium is idle, the point coordinator
gains immediate access and a full superframe period follows. However, the medium
may be busy at the end of a superframe. In this case, the point coordinator must wait
until the medium is idle to gain access; this results in a foreshortened superframe
period for the next cycle.
MAC Frame
Figure 17.8 shows the 802.11 frame format. This general format is used for all data
and control frames, but not all fields are used in all contexts. The fields are as fol-
lows:
•
Frame Control: Indicates the type of frame (control, management, or data)
and provides control information. Control information includes whether the
frame is to or from a DS, fragmentation information, and privacy information.
•
Duration/Connection ID: If used as a duration field, indicates the time (in
microseconds) the channel will be allocated for successful transmission of a
MAC frame. In some control frames, this field contains an association, or con-
nection, identifier.
•
Addresses: The number and meaning of the 48-bit address fields depend on
context. The transmitter address and receiver address are the MAC addresses
of stations joined to the BSS that are transmitting and receiving frames over
the wireless LAN. The service set ID (SSID) identifies the wireless LAN over
which a frame is transmitted. For an IBSS, the SSID is a random number gen-
erated at the time the network is formed. For a wireless LAN that is part of a
larger configuration the SSID identifies the BSS over which the frame is trans-
mitted; specifically, the SSID is the MAC-level address of the AP for this BSS
(Figure 17.4). Finally the source address and destination address are the MAC
addresses of stations, wireless or otherwise, that are the ultimate source and
destination of this frame. The source address may be identical to the transmit-
ter address and the destination address may be identical to the receiver
address.
•
Sequence Control: Contains a 4-bit fragment number subfield, used for frag-
mentation and reassembly, and a 12-bit sequence number used to number
frames sent between a given transmitter and receiver.
•
Frame Body: Contains an MSDU or a fragment of an MSDU. The MSDU is a
LLC protocol data unit or MAC control information.
•
Frame Check Sequence: A 32-bit cyclic redundancy check.
542
CHAPTER 17 / WIRELESS LANS
We now look at the three MAC frame types.
Control Frames Control frames assist in the reliable delivery of data frames.
There are six control frame subtypes:
• Power Save-Poll (PS-Poll): This frame is sent by any station to the station that
includes the AP (access point). Its purpose is to request that the AP transmit a
frame that has been buffered for this station while the station was in power-
saving mode.
• Request to Send (RTS): This is the first frame in the four-way frame exchange
discussed under the subsection on reliable data delivery at the beginning of
Section 17.3. The station sending this message is alerting a potential destina-
tion, and all other stations within reception range, that it intends to send a data
frame to that destination.
• Clear to Send (CTS): This is the second frame in the four-way exchange. It is
sent by the destination station to the source station to grant permission to send
a data frame.
• Acknowledgment: Provides an acknowledgment from the destination to the
source that the immediately preceding data, management, or PS-Poll frame
was received correctly.
• Contention-Free (CF)-end: Announces the end of a contention-free period
that is part of the point coordination function.
•
Acknowledges the CF-end. This frame ends the con-
CF-End + CF-Ack:
tention-free period and releases stations from the restrictions associated with
that period.
Data Frames There are eight data frame subtypes, organized into two groups.
The first four subtypes define frames that carry upper-level data from the source
station to the destination station. The four data-carrying frames are as follows:
• Data: This is the simplest data frame. It may be used in both a contention
period and a contention-free period.
•
May only be sent during a contention-free period. In addi-
Data + CF-Ack:
tion to carrying data, this frame acknowledges previously received data.
•
Used by a point coordinator to deliver data to a mobile sta-
Data + CF-Poll:
tion and also to request that the mobile station send a data frame that it may
have buffered.
•
Data + CF-Ack + CF-Poll:
Combines the functions of the
Data + CF-Ack
and
Data + CF-Poll
into a single frame.
The remaining four subtypes of data frames do not in fact carry any user
data. The Null Function data frame carries no data, polls, or acknowledgments. It
is used only to carry the power management bit in the frame control field to the
AP, to indicate that the station is changing to a low-power operating state. The
remaining three frames (CF-Ack, CF-Poll,
) have the same
CF-Ack + CF-Poll
functionality as the corresponding data frame subtypes in the preceding list
1Data + CF-Ack, Data + CF-Poll, Data + CF-Ack + CF-Poll2 but without the
data.
17.5 / IEEE 802.11 PHYSICAL LAYER
543
Management Frames Management frames are used to manage communica-
tions between stations and APs. Functions covered include management of associa-
tions (request, response, reassociation, dissociation, and authentication).
17.5
IEEE 802.11 PHYSICAL LAYER
The physical layer for IEEE 802.11 has been issued in four stages. The first part, sim-
ply called IEEE 802.11, includes the MAC layer and three physical layer specifica-
tions, two in the 2.4-GHz band (ISM) and one in the infrared, all operating at 1 and
2 Mbps. IEEE 802.11a operates in the 5-GHz band at data rates up to 54 Mbps.
IEEE 802.11b operates in the 2.4-GHz band at 5.5 and 11 Mbps. IEEE 802.11g also
operates in the 2.4-GHz band, at data rates up to 54 Mbps. Table 17.4 provides some
details. We look at each of these in turn.
Original IEEE 802.11 Physical Layer
Three physical media are defined in the original 802.11 standard:
• Direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) operating in the 2.4-GHz ISM band,
at data rates of 1 Mbps and 2 Mbps. In the United States, the FCC (Federal
Communications Commission) requires no licensing for the use of this band.
The number of channels available depends on the bandwidth allocated by the
various national regulatory agencies. This ranges from 13 in most European
countries to just one available channel in Japan.
• Frequency-hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) operating in the 2.4-GHz ISM
band, at data rates of 1 Mbps and 2 Mbps. The number of channels available
ranges from 23 in Japan to 70 in the United States.
Table 17.4
IEEE 802.11 Physical Layer Standards
802.11
802.11a
802.11b
802.11g
Available bandwidth
83.5 MHz
300 MHz
83.5 MHz
83.5 MHz
Unlicensed frequency
2.4-2.4835 GHz
5.15-5.35 GHz
2.4-2.4835 GHz
2.4-2.4835 GHz
of operation
DSSS, FHSS
OFDM
DSSS
DSSS, OFDM
5.725-5.825 GHz
OFDM
Number of non-
3 (indoor/outdoor)
4 indoor
3 (indoor/outdoor)
3 (indoor/outdoor)
overlapping channels
4 (indoor/outdoor)
4 outdoor
Data rate per channel
1, 2 Mbps
6, 9, 12, 18, 24,
1, 2, 5.5, 11 Mbps
1, 2, 5.5, 6, 9, 11,
36, 48, 54 Mbps
12, 18, 24, 36, 48,
54 Mbps
Compatibility
802.11
Wi-Fi5
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi at 11 Mbps
and below
544
CHAPTER 17 / WIRELESS LANS
• Infrared at 1 Mbps and 2 Mbps operating at a wavelength between 850 and
950 nm
Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum Up to three nonoverlapping channels,
each with a data rate of 1 Mbps or 2 Mbps, can be used in the DSSS scheme. Each
channel has a bandwidth of 5 MHz. The encoding scheme that is used is DBPSK
(differential binary phase shift keying) for the 1-Mbps rate and DQPSK for the
2-Mbps rate.
Recall from Chapter 9 that a DSSS system makes use of a chipping code, or
pseudonoise sequence, to spread the data rate and hence the bandwidth of the sig-
nal. For IEEE 802.11, a Barker sequence is used.
A Barker sequence is a binary
5-1, +16
sequence
5s1t26
of length n with the
property that its autocorrelation values
R1t2
satisfy
ƒ R1t2 ƒ
… 1
for all
ƒ t ƒ
… 1n - 12.
N
1
Autocorrelation is defined by the following formula:R(t) =
where the
k=1
NaBkBk-t,
B
i
are the bits of the sequence.1
Further, the Barker property is preserved under the following transformations:
s1t2 : - s1t2
s1t2 : 1 - 12ts1t2 and s1t2 : - s1n - 1 - t2
as well as under compositions of these transformations. Only the following Barker
sequences are known:
n = 2
+ +
n = 3
+ + -
n = 4
+ + + -
n = 5
+ + + - +
n = 7
+ + + - - + -
n = 11
+ - + + - + + + - - -
n = 13
+ + + + + - - + + - + - +
IEEE 802.11 DSSS uses the 11-chip Barker sequence. Each data binary 1 is
mapped into the sequence
and each binary 0 is
5+ - + + - + + + - - -6,
mapped into the sequence
5- + - - + - - - + + +6.
Important characteristics of Barker sequences are their robustness against
interference and their insensitivity to multipath propagation.
Frequency-Hopping Spread Spectrum Recall from Chapter 9 that a FHSS
system makes use of a multiple channels, with the signal hopping from one channel
to another based on a pseudonoise sequence. In the case of the IEEE 802.11
scheme, 1-MHz channels are used.
The details of the hopping scheme are adjustable. For example, the
minimum hop rate for the United States is 2.5 hops per second. The minimum
1See Appendix J for a discussion of correlation and orthogonality.
17.5 / IEEE 802.11 PHYSICAL LAYER
545
hop distance in frequency is 6 MHz in North America and most of Europe and
5 MHz in Japan.
For modulation, the FHSS scheme uses two-level Gaussian FSK for the 1-Mbps
system. The bits zero and one are encoded as deviations from the current carrier
frequency. For 2 Mbps, a four-level GFSK scheme is used, in which four different
deviations from the center frequency define the four 2-bit combinations.
Infrared The IEEE 802.11 infrared scheme is omnidirectional rather than point to
point. A range of up to 20 m is possible. The modulation scheme for the 1-Mbps data
rate is known as 16-PPM (pulse position modulation). In pulse position modulation
(PPM), the input value determines the position of a narrow pulse relative to the
clocking time. The advantage of PPM is that it reduces the output power required of
the infrared source. For 16-PPM, each group of 4 data bits is mapped into one of the
16-PPM symbols; each symbol is a string of 16 pulse positions. Each 16-pulse string
consists of fifteen 0s and one binary 1. For the 2-Mbps data rate, each group of 2
data bits is mapped into one of four 4-pulse-position sequences. Each sequence con-
sists of three 0s and one binary 1. The actual transmission uses an intensity modula-
tion scheme, in which the presence of a signal corresponds to a binary 1 and the
absence of a signal corresponds to binary 0.
IEEE 802.11a
Channel Structure IEEE 802.11a makes use of the frequency band called the
Universal Networking Information Infrastructure (UNNI), which is divided into
three parts. The UNNI-1 band (5.15 to 5.25 GHz) is intended for indoor use; the
UNNI-2 band (5.25 to 5.35 GHz) can be used either indoor or outdoor, and the
UNNI-3 band (5.725 to 5.825 GHz) is for outdoor use.
IEEE 80211.a has several advantages over IEEE 802.11b/g:
• IEEE 802.11a utilizes more available bandwidth than 802.11b/g. Each UNNI
band provides four nonoverlapping channels for a total of 12 across the allo-
cated spectrum.
• IEEE 802.11a provides much higher data rates than 802.11b and the same
maximum data rate as 802.11g.
• IEEE 802.11a uses a different, relatively uncluttered frequency spectrum
(5 GHz).
Coding and Modulation Unlike the 2.4-GHz specifications, IEEE 802.11 does
not use a spread spectrum scheme but rather uses orthogonal frequency division
multiplexing (OFDM). Recall from Section 11.2 that OFDM, also called multicar-
rier modulation, uses multiple carrier signals at different frequencies, sending some
of the bits on each channel. This is similar to FDM. However, in the case of OFDM,
all of the subchannels are dedicated to a single data source.
To complement OFDM, the specification supports the use of a variety of
modulation and coding alternatives.The system uses up to 48 subcarriers that are
modulated using BPSK, QPSK, 16-QAM, or 64-QAM. Subcarrier frequency
546
CHAPTER 17 / WIRELESS LANS
1 OFDM
12 OFDM symbols
Variable number of OFDM symbols
symbol
PLCP preamble
Signal
Data
Coded/OFDM
Coded/OFDM
(BPSK, r = 1/2)
(rate is indicated in signal)
Rate
r
Length
P
Tail
Service
MPDU
Tail
Pad
4 bits
1
12 bits
1
6 bits
16 bits
6 bits
(a) IEEE 802.11a physical PDU
72 bits at
48 bits at
Variable number bits at
1 Mbps DBPSK
2 Mbps DQPSK
2 Mbps DQPSK; 5.5 Mbps DBPSK; 11 Mbps DQPSK
PLCP Preamble
PLCP Header
MPDU
Sync
SFD
Signal
Service
Length
CRC
56 bits
16 bits
8 bits
8 bits
16 bits
16 bits
(b) IEEE 802.11b physical PDU
Figure 17.9
IEEE 802 Physical-Level Protocol Data Units
spacing is 0.3125 MHz., and each subcarrier transmits at a rate of 250 kbaud. A
convolutional code at a rate of 1/2, 2/3, or 3/4 provides forward error correction.
The combination of modulation technique and coding rate determines the data
rate.
Physical-Layer Frame Structure The primary purpose of the physical layer is
to transmit medium access control (MAC) protocol data units (MPDUs) as directed
by the 802.11 MAC layer. The PLCP sublayer provides the framing and signaling
bits needed for the OFDM transmission and the PDM sublayer performs the actual
encoding and transmission operation.
Figure 17.9a illustrates the physical layer frame format. The PLCP Preamble
field enables the receiver to acquire an incoming OFDM signal and synchronize the
demodulator. Next is the Signal field, which consists of 24 bits encoded as a single
OFDM symbol. The Preamble and Signal fields are transmitted at 6 Mbps using
BPSK. The signal field consists of the following subfields:
• Rate: Specifies the data rate at which the data field portion of the frame is
transmitted
• r: reserved for future use
• Length: Number of octets in the MAC PDU
17.5 / IEEE 802.11 PHYSICAL LAYER
547
• P: An even parity bit for the 17 bits in the Rate, r, and Length subfields
• Tail: Consists of 6 zero bits appended to the symbol to bring the convolutional
encoder to zero state
The Data field consists of a variable number of OFDM symbols transmitted at
the data rate specified in the Rate subfield. Prior to transmission, all of the bits of
the Data field are scrambled (see Appendix 16C for a discussion of scrambling). The
Data field consists of four subfields:
• Service: Consists of 16 bits, with the first 7 bits set to zeros to synchronize the
descrambler in the receiver, and the remaining 9 bits (all zeros) reserved for
future use.
• MAC PDU: Handed down from the MAC layer. The format is shown in Figure
17.8.
• Tail: Produced by replacing the six scrambled bits following the MPDU end
with 6 bits of all zeros; used to reinitialize the convolutional encoder.
• Pad: The number of bits required to make the Data field a multiple of the
number of bits in an OFDM symbol (48, 96, 192, or 288).
IEEE 802.11b
IEEE 802.11b is an extension of the IEEE 802.11 DSSS scheme, providing data
rates of 5.5 and 11 Mbps in the ISM band. The chipping rate is 11 MHz, which is
the same as the original DSSS scheme, thus providing the same occupied band-
width. To achieve a higher data rate in the same bandwidth at the same chipping
rate, a modulation scheme known as complementary code keying (CCK) is
used.
The CCK modulation scheme is quite complex and is not examined in
detail here. Figure 17.10 provides an overview of the scheme for the 11-Mbps
rate. Input data are treated in blocks of
8 bits at a rate of
1.375 MHz
18 bits/symbol * 1.375 MHz = 11 Mbps2. Six of these bits are mapped into one
of 64 codes sequences derived from a 64 * 64 matrix known as the Walsh matrix
Pick one of
64 complex
I out
codes
Q out
Data
MUX
input
1:8
1.375 MHz
11 MHz
Figure 17.10
11-Mbps CCK Modulation Scheme
548
CHAPTER 17 / WIRELESS LANS
(discussed in [STAL05]). The output of the mapping, plus the two additional
bits, forms the input to a QPSK modulator.
An optional alternative to CCK is known as packet binary convolutional cod-
ing (PBCC). PBCC provides for potentially more efficient transmission at the cost
of increased computation at the receiver. PBCC was incorporated into 802.11b in
anticipation of its need for higher data rates for future enhancements to the stan-
dard.
Physical-Layer Frame Structure IEEE 802.11b defines two physical-layer
frame formats, which differ only in the length of the preamble. The long preamble of
144 bits is the same as used in the original 802.11 DSSS scheme and allows interop-
erability with other legacy systems. The short preamble of 72 bits provides improved
throughput efficiency. Figure 17.9b illustrates the physical layer frame format with
the short preamble. The PLCP Preamble field enables the receiver to acquire an
incoming signal and synchronize the demodulator. It consists of two subfields: a
56-bit Sync field for synchronization, and a 16-bit start-of-frame delimiter (SFD).
The preamble is transmitted at 1 Mbps using differential BPSK and Barker code
spreading.
Following the preamble is the PLCP Header, which is transmitted at 2 Mbps
using DQPSK. It consists of the following subfields:
• Signal: Specifies the data rate at which the MPDU portion of the frame is
transmitted.
• Service: Only 3 bits of this 8-bit field are used in 802.11b. One bit indicates
whether the transmit frequency and symbol clocks use the same local oscilla-
tor. Another bit indicates whether CCK or PBCC encoding is used. A third bit
acts as an extension to the Length subfield.
• Length: Indicates the length of the MPDU field by specifying the number of
microseconds necessary to transmit the MPDU. Given the data rate, the length
of the MPDU in octets can be calculated. For any data rate over 8 Mbps, the
length extension bit from the Service field is needed to resolve a rounding
ambiguity.
• CRC: A 16-bit error detection code used to protect the Signal, Service, and
Length fields.
The MPDU field consists of a variable number of bits transmitted at the
data rate specified in the Signal subfield. Prior to transmission, all of the bits of
the physical layer PDU are scrambled (see Appendix 16C for a discussion of
scrambling).
IEEE 802.11g
IEEE 802.11g extends 802.11b to data rates above 20 Mbps, up to 54 Mbps. Like
802.11b, 802.11g operates in the 2.4-GHz range and thus the two are compatible.
The standard is designed so that 802.11b devices will work when connected to an
802.11g AP, and 802.11g devices will work when connected to an 802.11b AP, in both
cases using the lower 802.11b data rate.
17.6 / IEEE 802.11 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
549
Table 17.5
Estimated Distance (m) Versus Data Rate
Data Rate (Mbps)
802.11b
802.11a
802.11g
1
90 +
—
90 +
2
75
—
75
5.5(b)/6(a/g)
60
60 +
65
9
—
50
55
11(b)/12(a/g)
50
45
50
18
—
40
50
24
—
30
45
36
—
25
35
48
—
15
25
54
—
10
20
IEEE 802.11g offers a wider array of data rate and modulation scheme
options. IEEE 802.11g provides compatibility with 802.11 and 802.11b by specifying
the same modulation and framing schemes as these standards for 1, 2, 5.5, and
11 Mbps. At data rates of 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, and 54 Mbps, 802.11g adopts the
802.11a OFDM scheme, adapted for the 2.4 GHz rate; this is referred to as ERP-
OFDM, with ERP standing for extended rate physical layer. In addition, and ERP-
PBCC scheme is used to provide data rates of 22 and 33 Mbps.
The IEEE 802.11 standards do not include a specification of speed versus dis-
tance objectives. Different vendors will give different values, depending on environ-
ment. Table 17.5, based on [LAYL04] gives estimated values for a typical office
environment.
17.6
IEEE 802.11 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
There are two characteristics of a wired LAN that are not inherent in a wireless
LAN.
1. In order to transmit over a wired LAN, a station must be physically con-
nected to the LAN. On the other hand, with a wireless LAN, any station
within radio range of the other devices on the LAN can transmit. In a sense,
there is a form of authentication with a wired LAN, in that it requires some
positive and presumably observable action to connect a station to a wired
LAN.
2. Similarly, in order to receive a transmission from a station that is part of a
wired LAN, the receiving station must also be attached to the wired LAN. On
the other hand, with a wireless LAN, any station within radio range can
receive. Thus, a wired LAN provides a degree of privacy, limiting reception of
data to stations connected to the LAN.
550
CHAPTER 17 / WIRELESS LANS
Access and Privacy Services
IEEE 802.11 defines three services that provide a wireless LAN with these two fea-
tures:
• Authentication: Used to establish the identity of stations to each other. In a
wired LAN, it is generally assumed that access to a physical connection con-
veys authority to connect to the LAN. This is not a valid assumption for a wire-
less LAN, in which connectivity is achieved simply by having an attached
antenna that is properly tuned. The authentication service is used by stations
to establish their identity with stations they wish to communicate with. IEEE
802.11 supports several authentication schemes and allows for expansion of
the functionality of these schemes. The standard does not mandate any partic-
ular authentication scheme, which could range from relatively unsecure hand-
shaking to public-key encryption schemes. However, IEEE 802.11 requires
mutually acceptable, successful authentication before a station can establish
an association with an AP.
• Deauthentication: This service is invoked whenever an existing authentication
is to be terminated.
• Privacy: Used to prevent the contents of messages from being read by other
than the intended recipient. The standard provides for the optional use of
encryption to assure privacy.
Wireless LAN Security Standards
The original 802.11 specification included a set of security features for privacy and
authentication that, unfortunately, were quite weak. For privacy, 802.11 defined the
Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) algorithm. The privacy portion of the 802.11 stan-
dard contained major weaknesses. Subsequent to the development of WEP, the
802.11i task group has developed a set of capabilities to address the WLAN security
issues. In order to accelerate the introduction of strong security into WLANs, the
Wi-Fi Alliance promulgated Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) as a Wi-Fi standard.
WPA is a set of security mechanisms that eliminates most 802.11 security issues and
was based on the current state of the 802.11i standard. As 802.11i evolves, WPA will
evolve to maintain compatibility.
WPA is examined in Chapter 21.
17.7 RECOMMENDED READING AND WEB SITES
[PAHL95] and [BANT94] are detailed survey articles on wireless LANs. [KAHN97] provides
good coverage of infrared LANs.
[ROSH04] provides a good up-to-date technical treatment of IEEE 802.11. Another
useful book is [BING02]. [OHAR99] is an excellent technical treatment of IEEE 802.11.
Another good treatment is [LARO02]. [CROW97] is a good survey article on the 802.11
standards but does not cover IEEE 802.11a and IEEE 802.11b. A brief but useful survey of
802.11 is [MCFA03]. [GEIE01] has a good discussion of IEEE 802.11a. [PETR00] summa-
rizes IEEE 802.11b. [SHOE02] provides an overview of IEEE 802.11g. [XIAO04] discusses
802.11e.
17.8 / KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTION, AND PROBLEMS
551
BANT94
Bantz, D., and Bauchot, F. “Wireless LAN Design Alternatives.” IEEE Network,
March/April 1994.
BING02
Bing, B. Wireless Local Area Networks. New York: Wiley, 2002.
CROW97
Crow, B., et al. “IEEE
802.11 Wireless Local Area Networks.” IEEE
Communications Magazine, September 1997.
GEIE01
Geier, J. “Enabling Fast Wireless Networks with OFDM.” Communications
KAHN97
Kahn, J., and Barry, J. “Wireless Infrared Communications.” Proceedings of the
IEEE, February 1997.
LARO02
LaRocca, J., and LaRocca, R. 802.11 Demystified. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002.
MCFA03
McFarland, B., and Wong, M. ’The Family Dynamics of 802.11” ACM Queue,
May 2003.
OHAR99
Ohara, B., and Petrick, A. IEEE 802.11 Handbook: A Designer’s Companion.
New York: IEEE Press, 1999.
PAHL95
Pahlavan, K.; Probert, T.; and Chase, M. “Trends in Local Wireless Networks.”
IEEE Communications Magazine, March 1995.
PETR00
Petrick, A. “IEEE
802.11b—Wireless Ethernet.” Communications System
ROSH04
Roshan, P., and Leary, J. 802.11 Wireless LAN Fundamentals. Indianapolis:
Cisco Press, 2004.
SHOE02
Shoemake, M. “IEEE 802.11g Jells as Applications Mount.” Communications
XIAO04
Xiao, Y. “IEEE 802.11e: QoS Provisioning at the MAC Layer.” IEEE
Communications Magazine, June 2004.
Recommended Web sites:
• Wireless LAN Association: Gives an introduction to the technology, including a discus-
sion of implementation considerations and case studies from users. Links to related sites.
• The IEEE 802.11 Wireless LAN Working Group: Contains working group docu-
ments plus discussion archives.
• Wi-Fi Alliance: An industry group promoting the interoperability of 802.11 products
with each other and with Ethernet.
17.8 KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
Key Terms
access point (AP)
basic service set (BSS)
coordination function
ad hoc networking
complementary code keying
distributed coordination
Barker sequence
(CCK)
function (DCF)
552
CHAPTER 17 / WIRELESS LANS
distribution system (DS)
narrowband microwave LAN
spread spectrum LAN
extended service set (ESS)
nomadic access
wireless LAN
infrared LAN
point coordination function
LAN extension
(PCF)
Review Questions
17.1. List and briefly define four application areas for wireless LANs.
17.2. List and briefly define key requirements for wireless LANs.
17.3. What is the difference between a single-cell and a multiple-cell wireless LAN?
17.4. What are some key advantages of infrared LANs?
17.5. What are some key disadvantages of infrared LANs?
17.6. List and briefly define three transmission techniques for infrared LANs.
17.7. What is the difference between an access point and a portal?
17.8. Is a distribution system a wireless network?
17.9. List and briefly define IEEE 802.11 services.
17.10. How is the concept of an association related to that of mobility?
Problems
17.1
Consider the sequence of actions within a BSS depicted in Figure 17.11. Draw a time-
line, beginning with a period during which the medium is busy and ending with a
Subscriber A
1. Beacon
4. Data CF-Ack CF-Poll
5. Data CF-ACK
8. CF-End
Subscriber B
AP
Subscriber C
Figure 17.11
Configuration for Problem 17.1
17.8 / KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTION, AND PROBLEMS
553
period in which the CF-End is broadcast from the AP. Show the transmission periods
and the gaps.
17.2
Find the autocorrelation for the 11-bit Barker sequence as a function of
t.
17.3
a. For the 16-PPM scheme used for the 1-Mbps IEEE 802.11 infrared standard,
a1. What is the period of transmission (time between bits)?
For the corresponding infrared pulse transmission,
a2. What is the average time between pulses (1 values) and the corresponding
average rate of pulse transmission?
a3. What is the minimum time between adjacent pulses?
a4. What is the maximum time between pulses?
b. Repeat (a) for the 4-PPM scheme used for the 2-Mbps infrared standard.
17.4
For IEEE 802.11a, show how the modulation technique and coding rate determine
the data rate.
17.5
The 802.11a and 802.11b physical layers make use of data scrambling (see Appendix
16C). For 802.11, the scrambling equation is
P1X2 = 1 + X4 + X7
In this case the shift register consists of seven elements, used in the same manner as
the five-element register in Figure 16.17. For the 802.11 scrambler and descrambler,
a. Show the expression with exclusive-or operators that corresponds to the polyno-
mial definition.
b. Draw a figure similar to Figure 16.17.
PART FIVE
Internet and Transport
Protocols
e have dealt, so far, with the technologies and techniques used to
exchange data between two devices. Part Two dealt with the case in
W
which the two devices share a transmission link. Parts Three and Four
were concerned with the case in which a communication network provides a
shared transmission capacity for multiple attached end systems.
In a distributed data processing system, much more is needed. The data
processing systems (workstations, PCs, servers, mainframes) must implement
a set of functions that will allow them to perform some task cooperatively.
This set of functions is organized into a communications architecture and
involves a layered set of protocols, including internetwork, transport, and
application-layer protocols. In Part Five, we examine the internetwork and
transport protocols.
Before proceeding with Part Five, the reader is advised to revisit Chapter 2,
which introduces the concept of a protocol architecture and discusses the key
elements of a protocol.
ROAD MAP FOR PART FIVE
Chapter 18 Internet Protocols
With the proliferation of networks, internetworking facilities have become
essential components of network design. Chapter 18 begins with an exami-
nation of the requirements for an internetworking facility and the various
design approaches that can be taken to satisfy those requirements. The
remainder of the chapter deals with the use of routers for internetworking.
The Internet Protocol (IP) and the new IPv6 are examined.
Chapter 19 Internetwork Operation
Chapter 19 begins with a discussion of multicasting across an internet.
Then issues of routing and quality of service are explored.
554
The traffic that the Internet and these private internetworks must
carry continues to grow and change. The demand generated by traditional
data-based applications, such as electronic mail, Usenet news, file trans-
fer, and remote logon, is sufficient to challenge these systems. But the dri-
ving factors are the heavy use of the World Wide Web, which demands
real-time response, and the increasing use of voice, image, and even video
over internetwork architectures.
These internetwork schemes are essentially datagram packet-
switching technology with routers functioning as the switches. This tech-
nology was not designed to handle voice and video and is straining to
meet the demands placed on it. While some foresee the replacement of
this conglomeration of Ethernet-based LANs, packet-based WANs, and
IP-datagram-based routers with a seamless ATM transport service from
desktop to backbone, that day is far off. Meanwhile, the internetworking
and routing functions of these networks must be engineered to meet the
load.
Chapter 19 looks at some of the tools and techniques designed to
meet the new demand, beginning with a discussion of routing schemes,
which can help smooth out load surges. The remainder of the chapter
looks at recent efforts to provide a given level of quality of service (QoS)
to various applications. The most important elements of this new
approach are integrated services and differentiated services.
Chapter 20 Transport Protocols
The transport protocol is the keystone of the whole concept of a com-
puter communications architecture. It can also be one of the most com-
plex of protocols. Chapter 20 examines in detail transport protocol
mechanisms and then discusses two important examples, TCP and UDP.
The bulk of the chapter is devoted to an analysis of the complex set of
TCP mechanisms and of TCP congestion control schemes.
555
CHAPTER
18
INTERNET PROTOCOLS
18.1
Basic Protocol Functions
18.2
Principles of Internetworking
18.3
Internet Protocol Operation
18.4
Internet Protocol
18.5
IPv6
18.6
Virtual Private Networks and IP Security
18.7
Recommended Reading and Web Sites
18.8
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
556
The map of the London Underground, which can be seen inside every train, has
been called a model of its kind, a work of art. It presents the underground network
as a geometric grid. The tube lines do not, of course, lie at right angles to one
another like the streets of Manhattan. Nor do they branch off at acute angles or
form perfect oblongs.
—King Solomon’s Carpet. Barbara Vine (Ruth Rendell)
KEY POINTS
• Key functions typically performed by a protocol include encapsula-
tion, fragmentation and reassembly, connection control, ordered
delivery, flow control, error control, addressing, and multiplexing.
• An internet consists of multiple separate networks that are intercon-
nected by routers. Data are transmitted in packets from a source sys-
tem to a destination across a path involving multiple networks and
routers. Typically, a connectionless or datagram operation is used. A
router accepts datagrams and relays them on toward their destination
and is responsible for determining the route, much the same way as
packet-switching nodes operate.
• The most widely used protocol for internetworking is the Internet
Protocol (IP). IP attaches a header to upper-layer (e.g., TCP) data to
form an IP datagram. The header includes source and destination
addresses, information used for fragmentation and reassembly, a time-
to-live field, a type-of-service field, and a checksum.
• A next-generation IP, known as IPv6, has been defined. IPv6 provides
longer address fields and more functionality than the current IP.
The purpose of this chapter is to examine the Internet Protocol, which is
the foundation on which all of the internet-based protocols and on which
internetworking is based. First, it will be useful to review the basic functions
of networking protocols. This review serves to summarize some of the
material introduced previously and to set the stage for the study of inter-
net-based protocols in Parts Five and Six. We then move to a discussion of
internetworking. Next, the chapter focuses on the two standard internet
protocols: IPv4 and IPv6. Finally, the topic of IP security is introduced.
Refer to Figure 2.5 to see the position within the TCP/IP suite of the
protocols discussed in this chapter.
557
558
CHAPTER 18 / INTERNET PROTOCOLS
18.1
BASIC PROTOCOL FUNCTIONS
Before turning to a discussion of internet protocols, let us consider a rather small set
of functions that form the basis of all protocols. Not all protocols have all functions;
this would involve a significant duplication of effort. There are, nevertheless, many
instances of the same type of function being present in protocols at different levels.
We can group protocol functions into the following categories:
• Encapsulation
• Fragmentation and reassembly
• Connection control
• Ordered delivery
• Flow control
• Error control
• Addressing
• Multiplexing
• Transmission services
Encapsulation
For virtually all protocols, data are transferred in blocks, called protocol data units
(PDUs). Each PDU contains not only data but also control information. Indeed,
some PDUs consist solely of control information and no data. The control informa-
tion falls into three general categories:
• Address: The address of the sender and/or receiver may be indicated.
• Error-detecting code: Some sort of frame check sequence is often included for
error detection.
• Protocol control: Additional information is included to implement the proto-
col functions listed in the remainder of this section.
The addition of control information to data is referred to as encapsulation.
Data are accepted or generated by an entity and encapsulated into a PDU contain-
ing that data plus control information. Typically, the control information is con-
tained in a PDU header; some data link layer PDUs include a trailer as well.
Numerous examples of PDUs appear in the preceding chapters [e.g., TFTP (Figure
2.13), HDLC (Figure 7.7), frame relay (Figure 10.16), ATM (Figure 11.4), LLC (Fig-
ure 15.7), IEEE 802.3 (Figure 16.3), IEEE 802.11 (Figure 17.8)].
Fragmentation and Reassembly1
A protocol is concerned with exchanging data between two entities. Usually, the
transfer can be characterized as consisting of a sequence of PDUs of some bounded
size. Whether the application entity sends data in messages or in a continuous
1The term segmentation is used in OSI-related documents, but in protocol specifications related to the
TCP/IP protocol suite, the term fragmentation is used. The meaning is the same.
18.1 / BASIC PROTOCOL FUNCTIONS
559
stream, lower-level protocols typically organize the data into blocks. Further, a
protocol may need to divide a block received from a higher layer into multiple
blocks of some smaller bounded size. This process is called fragmentation.
There are a number of motivations for fragmentation, depending on the
context. Among the typical reasons for fragmentation are the following:
• The communications network may only accept blocks of data up to a certain
size. For example, an ATM network is limited to blocks of 53 octets; Ethernet
imposes a maximum size of 1526 octets.
• Error control may be more efficient with a smaller PDU size. With smaller
PDUs, fewer bits need to be retransmitted when a PDU suffers an error.
• More equitable access to shared transmission facilities, with shorter delay, can
be provided. For example, without a maximum block size, one station could
monopolize a multipoint medium.
• A smaller PDU size may mean that receiving entities can allocate smaller
buffers.
• An entity may require that data transfer comes to some sort of “closure” from
time to time, for checkpoint and restart/recovery operations.
There are several disadvantages to fragmentation that argue for making PDUs
as large as possible:
• Because each PDU contains a certain amount of control information, smaller
blocks have a greater percentage of overhead.
• PDU arrival may generate an interrupt that must be serviced. Smaller blocks
result in more interrupts.
• More time is spent processing smaller, more numerous PDUs.
All of these factors must be taken into account by the protocol designer in
determining minimum and maximum PDU size.
The counterpart of fragmentation is reassembly. Eventually, the segmented
data must be reassembled into messages appropriate to the application level. If
PDUs arrive out of order, the task is complicated.
Connection Control
An entity may transmit data to another entity in such a way that each PDU is
treated independently of all prior PDUs. This is known as connectionless data trans-
fer; an example is the use of the datagram, described in Chapter 10. While this mode
is useful, an equally important technique is connection-oriented data transfer, of
which the virtual circuit, also described in Chapter 10, is an example.
Connection-oriented data transfer is preferred (even required) if stations
anticipate a lengthy exchange of data and/or certain details of their protocol must
be worked out dynamically. A logical association, or connection, is established
between the entities. Three phases occur (Figure 18.1):
• Connection establishment
• Data transfer
• Connection termination
560
CHAPTER 18 / INTERNET PROTOCOLS
Protocol
Protocol
entity
entity
Multiple
exchanges
Figure 18.1
The Phases of a Connection-Oriented Data Transfer
With more sophisticated protocols, there may also be connection interrupt and
recovery phases to cope with errors and other sorts of interruptions.
During the connection establishment phase, two entities agree to exchange
data. Typically, one station will issue a connection request (in connectionless fash-
ion) to the other. A central authority may or may not be involved. In simpler proto-
cols, the receiving entity either accepts or rejects the request and, in the former case,
the connection is considered to be established. In more complex proposals, this
phase includes a negotiation concerning the syntax, semantics, and timing of the
protocol. Both entities must, of course, be using the same protocol. But the protocol
may allow certain optional features and these must be agreed upon by means of
negotiation. For example, the protocol may specify a PDU size of up to 8000 octets;
one station may wish to restrict this to 1000 octets.
Following connection establishment, the data transfer phase is entered. Dur-
ing this phase both data and control information (e.g., flow control, error control)
are exchanged. Figure 18.1 shows a situation in which all of the data flow in one
direction, with acknowledgments returned in the other direction. More typically,
data and acknowledgments flow in both directions. Finally, one side or the other
wishes to terminate the connection and does so by sending a termination request.
Alternatively, a central authority might forcibly terminate a connection.
A key characteristic of many connection-oriented data transfer protocols is that
sequencing is used (e.g., HDLC, IEEE 802.11). Each side sequentially numbers the
PDUs that it sends to the other side. Because each side remembers that it is engaged
in a logical connection, it can keep track of both outgoing numbers, which it generates,
and incoming numbers, which are generated by the other side. Indeed, one can essen-
tially define a connection-oriented data transfer as a transfer in which both sides
18.1 / BASIC PROTOCOL FUNCTIONS
561
number PDUs and keep track of both incoming and outgoing numbers. Sequencing
supports three main functions: ordered deliver, flow control, and error control.
Sequencing is not found in all connection-oriented protocols. Examples
include frame relay and ATM. However, all connection-oriented protocols
include in the PDU format some way of identifying the connection, which may be a
unique connection identifier or a combination of source and destination addresses.
Ordered Delivery
If two communicating entities are in different hosts2 connected by a network, there
is a risk that PDUs will not arrive in the order in which they were sent, because
they may traverse different paths through the network. In connection-oriented
protocols, it is generally required that PDU order be maintained. For example, if a
file is transferred between two systems, we would like to be assured that the
records of the received file are in the same order as those of the transmitted file,
and not shuffled. If each PDU is given a unique number, and numbers are assigned
sequentially, then it is a logically simple task for the receiving entity to reorder
received PDUs on the basis of sequence number. A problem with this scheme is
that, with a finite sequence number field, sequence numbers repeat (modulo some
maximum number). Evidently, the maximum sequence number must be greater
than the maximum number of PDUs that could be outstanding at any time. In fact,
the maximum number may need to be twice the maximum number of PDUs that
could be outstanding (e.g., selective-repeat ARQ; see Chapter 7).
Flow Control
Flow control is a function performed by a receiving entity to limit the amount or
rate of data that is sent by a transmitting entity.
The simplest form of flow control is a stop-and-wait procedure, in which each
PDU must be acknowledged before the next can be sent. More efficient protocols
involve some form of credit provided to the transmitter, which is the amount of data
that can be sent without an acknowledgment. The HDLC sliding-window technique
is an example of this mechanism (Chapter 7).
Flow control is a good example of a function that must be implemented in sev-
eral protocols. Consider Figure 18.2, which repeats Figure 2.1. The network will need
to exercise flow control over host A via the network access protocol, to enforce net-
work traffic control. At the same time, B’s network access module has finite buffer
space and needs to exercise flow control over A’s transmission; it can do this via the
transport protocol. Finally, even though B’s network access module can control its
data flow, B’s application may be vulnerable to overflow. For example, the applica-
tion could be hung up waiting for disk access. Thus, flow control is also needed over
the application-oriented protocol.
Error Control
Error control techniques are needed to guard against loss or damage of data and
control information. Typically, error control is implemented as two separate
2The term host refers to any end system attached to a network, such as a PC, workstation, or server.
562
CHAPTER 18 / INTERNET PROTOCOLS
Host A
Host B
App X
App Y
App Y
Port
App X
(service access point)
1
2
3
2
4
6
Logical connection
(TCP connection)
TCP
TCP
Global internet
IP
address
IP
Network access
Network access
protocol #1
protocol #2
Logical connection
Subnetwork attachment
Physical
(e.g., virtual circuit)
Physical
point address
Router J
IP
NAP 1
NAP 2
Network 1
Network 2
Physical
Physical
(N1)
(N2)
Figure 18.2
TCP/IP Concepts
functions: error detection and retransmission. To achieve error detection, the sender
inserts an error-detecting code in the transmitted PDU, which is a function of the
other bits in the PDU. The receiver checks the value of the code on the incoming
PDU. If an error is detected, the receiver discards the PDU. Upon failing to receive
an acknowledgment to the PDU in a reasonable time, the sender retransmits the
PDU. Some protocols also employ an error correction code, which enables the
receiver not only to detect errors but, in some cases, to correct them.
As with flow control, error control is a function that must be performed at var-
ious layers of protocol. Consider again Figure 18.2. The network access protocol
should include error control to assure that data are successfully exchanged between
station and network. However, a packet of data may be lost inside the network, and
the transport protocol should be able to recover from this loss.
Addressing
The concept of addressing in a communications architecture is a complex one and
covers a number of issues, including
• Addressing level
• Addressing scope
18.1 / BASIC PROTOCOL FUNCTIONS
563
• Connection identifiers
• Addressing mode
During this discussion, we illustrate the concepts using Figure 18.2, which
shows a configuration using the TCP/IP architecture. The concepts are essentially
the same for the OSI architecture or any other communications architecture.
Addressing level refers to the level in the communications architecture at
which an entity is named. Typically, a unique address is associated with each end
system (e.g., workstation or server) and each intermediate system (e.g., router) in
a configuration. Such an address is, in general, a network-level address. In the case
of the TCP/IP architecture, this is referred to as an IP address, or simply an inter-
net address. In the case of the OSI architecture, this is referred to as a network ser-
vice access point (NSAP). The network-level address is used to route a PDU
through a network or networks to a system indicated by a network-level address
in the PDU.
Once data arrive at a destination system, they must be routed to some process
or application in the system. Typically, a system will support multiple applications
and an application may support multiple users. Each application and, perhaps, each
concurrent user of an application is assigned a unique identifier, referred to as a port
in the TCP/IP architecture and as a service access point (SAP) in the OSI architec-
ture. For example, a host system might support both an electronic mail application
and a file transfer application. At minimum each application would have a port
number or SAP that is unique within that system. Further, the file transfer applica-
tion might support multiple simultaneous transfers, in which case, each transfer is
dynamically assigned a unique port number or SAP.
Figure 18.2 illustrates two levels of addressing within a system. This is typically
the case for the TCP/IP architecture. However, there can be addressing at each level
of an architecture. For example, a unique SAP can be assigned to each level of the
OSI architecture.
Another issue that relates to the address of an end system or intermediate
system is addressing scope. The internet address or NSAP address referred to previ-
ously is a global address. The key characteristics of a global address are as follows:
• Global nonambiguity: A global address identifies a unique system. Synonyms
are permitted. That is, a system may have more than one global address.
• Global applicability: It is possible at any global address to identify any other
global address, in any system, by means of the global address of the other system.
Because a global address is unique and globally applicable, it enables an inter-
net to route data from any system attached to any network to any other system
attached to any other network.
Figure 18.2 illustrates that another level of addressing may be required. Each
network must maintain a unique address for each device interface on the network.
Examples are a MAC address on an IEEE 802 network and an ATM host address.
This address enables the network to route data units (e.g., MAC frames, ATM cells)
through the network and deliver them to the intended attached system. We can refer
to such an address as a network attachment point address.
The issue of addressing scope is generally only relevant for network-level
addresses. A port or SAP above the network level is unique within a given system
564
CHAPTER 18 / INTERNET PROTOCOLS
but need not be globally unique. For example, in Figure 18.2, there can be a port 1 in
system A and a port 1 in system B. The full designation of these two ports could be
expressed as A.1 and B.1, which are unique designations.
The concept of connection identifiers comes into play when we consider con-
nection-oriented data transfer (e.g., virtual circuit) rather than connectionless data
transfer (e.g., datagram). For connectionless data transfer, a global identifier is used
with each data transmission. For connection-oriented transfer, it is sometimes desir-
able to use only a connection identifier during the data transfer phase. The scenario
is this: Entity 1 on system A requests a connection to entity 2 on system B, perhaps
using the global address B.2. When B.2 accepts the connection, a connection
identifier (usually a number) is provided and is used by both entities for future
transmissions. The use of a connection identifier has several advantages:
• Reduced overhead: Connection identifiers are generally shorter than global
identifiers. For example, in the frame relay protocol (discussed in Chapter 10),
connection request packets contain both source and destination address fields.
After a logical connection, called a data link connection, is established, data
frames contain a data link connection identifier (DLCI) of 10, 16, or 23 bits.
• Routing: In setting up a connection, a fixed route may be defined. The connec-
tion identifier serves to identify the route to intermediate systems, such as
packet-switching nodes, for handling future PDUs.
• Multiplexing: We address this function in more general terms later. Here we
note that an entity may wish to enjoy more than one connection simultane-
ously. Thus, incoming PDUs must be identified by connection identifier.
• Use of state information: Once a connection is established, the end systems
can maintain state information relating to the connection. This enables such
functions as flow control and error control using sequence numbers. We see
examples of this with HDLC (Chapter 7) and IEEE 802.11 (Chapter 17).
Figure 18.2 shows several examples of connections. The logical connection
between router J and host B is at the network level. For example, if network 2 is a
frame relay network, then this logical connection would be a data link connection.
At a higher level, many transport-level protocols, such as TCP, support logical con-
nections between users of the transport service. Thus, TCP can maintain a connec-
tion between two ports on different systems.
Another addressing concept is that of addressing mode. Most commonly, an
address refers to a single system or port; in this case it is referred to as an individual or
unicast address. It is also possible for an address to refer to more than one entity or
port. Such an address identifies multiple simultaneous recipients for data. For example,
a user might wish to send a memo to a number of individuals.The network control cen-
ter may wish to notify all users that the network is going down. An address for multiple
recipients may be broadcast, intended for all entities within a domain, or multicast,
intended for a specific subset of entities. Table 18.1 illustrates the possibilities.
Multiplexing
Related to the concept of addressing is that of multiplexing. One form of multi-
plexing is supported by means of multiple connections into a single system. For
18.1 / BASIC PROTOCOL FUNCTIONS
565
Table 18.1
Addressing Modes
Destination
Network Address
System Address
Port/SAP Address
Unicast
Individual
Individual
Individual
Individual
Individual
Group
Multicast
Individual
All
Group
All
All
Group
Individual
Individual
All
Broadcast
Individual
All
All
All
All
All
example, with frame relay, there can be multiple data link connections terminating
in a single end system; we can say that these data link connections are multiplexed
over the single physical interface between the end system and the network. Multi-
plexing can also be accomplished via port names, which also permit multiple simul-
taneous connections. For example, there can be multiple TCP connections
terminating in a given system, each connection supporting a different pair of ports.
Multiplexing is used in another context as well, namely the mapping of connec-
tions from one level to another. Consider again Figure 18.2. Network 1 might provide
a connection-oriented service. For each process-to-process connection established at
the next higher level, a data link connection could be created at the network access
level. This is a one-to-one relationship, but it need not be so. Multiplexing can be used
in one of two directions. Upward multiplexing, or inward multiplexing, occurs when
multiple higher-level connections are multiplexed on, or share, a single lower-level
connection. This may be needed to make more efficient use of the lower-level service
or to provide several higher-level connections in an environment where only a single
lower-level connection exists. Downward multiplexing, or splitting, means that a sin-
gle higher-level connection is built on top of multiple lower-level connections, and
the traffic on the higher connection is divided among the various lower connections.
This technique may be used to provide reliability, performance, or efficiency.
Transmission Services
A protocol may provide a variety of additional services to the entities that use it. We
mention here three common examples:
• Priority: Certain messages, such as control messages, may need to get through
to the destination entity with minimum delay. An example would be a termi-
nate-connection request. Thus, priority could be assigned on a message basis.
Additionally, priority could be assigned on a connection basis.
• Quality of service: Certain classes of data may require a minimum throughput
or a maximum delay threshold.
• Security: Security mechanisms, restricting access, may be invoked.
All of these services depend on the underlying transmission system and any
intervening lower-level entities. If it is possible for these services to be provided
from below, the protocol can be used by the two entities to exercise those services.
566
CHAPTER 18 / INTERNET PROTOCOLS
18.2 PRINCIPLES OF INTERNETWORKING
Packet-switching and packet-broadcasting networks grew out of a need to allow the
computer user to have access to resources beyond that available in a single system.
In a similar fashion, the resources of a single network are often inadequate to meet
users’ needs. Because the networks that might be of interest exhibit so many differ-
ences, it is impractical to consider merging them into a single network. Rather, what
is needed is the ability to interconnect various networks so that any two stations on
any of the constituent networks can communicate.
Table 18.2 lists some commonly used terms relating to the interconnection of
networks, or internetworking. An interconnected set of networks, from a user’s
point of view, may appear simply as a larger network. However, if each of the con-
stituent networks retains its identity and special mechanisms are needed for com-
municating across multiple networks, then the entire configuration is often referred
to as an internet.
Each constituent network in an internet supports communication among the
devices attached to that network; these devices are referred to as end systems (ESs).
In addition, networks are connected by devices referred to in the ISO documents as
intermediate systems (ISs). Intermediate systems provide a communications path
Table 18.2
Internetworking Terms
Communication Network
A facility that provides a data transfer service among devices attached to the network.
Internet
A collection of communication networks interconnected by bridges and/or routers.
Intranet
An internet used by a single organization that provides the key Internet applications, especially the World
Wide Web. An intranet operates within the organization for internal purposes and can exist as an isolated,
self-contained internet, or may have links to the Internet.
Subnetwork
Refers to a constituent network of an internet. This avoids ambiguity because the entire internet, from a user’s
point of view, is a single network.
End System (ES)
A device attached to one of the networks of an internet that is used to support end-user applications or
services.
Intermediate System (IS)
A device used to connect two networks and permit communication between end systems attached to different
networks.
Bridge
An IS used to connect two LANs that use similar LAN protocols. The bridge acts as an address filter, picking
up packets from one LAN that are intended for a destination on another LAN and passing those packets on.
The bridge does not modify the contents of the packets and does not add anything to the packet. The bridge
operates at layer 2 of the OSI model.
Router
An IS used to connect two networks that may or may not be similar.The router employs an internet
protocol present in each router and each end system of the network.The router operates at layer 3 of the
OSI model.
18.2 / PRINCIPLES OF INTERNETWORKING
567
and perform the necessary relaying and routing functions so that data can be
exchanged between devices attached to different networks in the internet.
Two types of ISs of particular interest are bridges and routers. The differ-
ences between them have to do with the types of protocols used for the internet-
working logic. In essence, a bridge operates at layer 2 of the open systems
interconnection (OSI) seven-layer architecture and acts as a relay of frames
between similar networks; bridges are discussed in Chapter 15. A router operates
at layer 3 of the OSI architecture and routes packets between potentially different
networks. Both the bridge and the router assume that the same upper-layer proto-
cols are in use.
We begin our examination of internetworking with a discussion of the basic
principles of internetworking. We then examine the most important architectural
approach to internetworking: the connectionless router.
Requirements
The overall requirements for an internetworking facility are as follows (we refer to
Figure 18.2 as an example throughout):
1.
Provide a link between networks. At minimum, a physical and link control
connection is needed. (Router J has physical links to N1 and N2, and on each
link there is a data link protocol.)
2.
Provide for the routing and delivery of data between processes on different net-
works. (Application X on host A exchanges data with application X on host B.)
3.
Provide an accounting service that keeps track of the use of the various networks
and routers and maintains status information.
4.
Provide the services just listed in such a way as not to require modifications to the
networking architecture of any of the constituent networks. This means that the
internetworking facility must accommodate a number of differences among net-
works. These include
• Different addressing schemes: The networks may use different endpoint
names and addresses and directory maintenance schemes. Some form of
global network addressing must be provided, as well as a directory service.
(Hosts A and B and router J have globally unique IP addresses.)
• Different maximum packet size: Packets from one network may have to be
broken up into smaller pieces for another. This process is referred to as
fragmentation. (N1 and N2 may set different upper limits on packet sizes.)
• Different network access mechanisms: The network access mechanism
between station and network may be different for stations on different net-
works. (For example, N1 may be a frame relay network and N2 an Ethernet
network.)
• Different timeouts: Typically, a connection-oriented transport service will
await an acknowledgment until a timeout expires, at which time it will
retransmit its block of data. In general, longer times are required for suc-
cessful delivery across multiple networks. Internetwork timing procedures
must allow successful transmission that avoids unnecessary retransmissions.
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CHAPTER 18 / INTERNET PROTOCOLS
• Error recovery: Network procedures may provide anything from no error
recovery up to reliable end-to-end (within the network) service. The inter-
network service should not depend on nor be interfered with by the nature
of the individual network’s error recovery capability.
• Status reporting: Different networks report status and performance differ-
ently. Yet it must be possible for the internetworking facility to provide such
information on internetworking activity to interested and authorized
processes.
• Routing techniques: Intranetwork routing may depend on fault detection
and congestion control techniques peculiar to each network. The internet-
working facility must be able to coordinate these to route data adaptively
between stations on different networks.
• User access control: Each network will have its own user access control
technique (authorization for use of the network). These must be invoked by
the internetwork facility as needed. Further, a separate internetwork access
control technique may be required.
• Connection, connectionless: Individual networks may provide connection-
oriented (e.g., virtual circuit) or connectionless (datagram) service. It may
be desirable for the internetwork service not to depend on the nature of the
connection service of the individual networks.
The Internet Protocol (IP) meets some of these requirements. Others require
additional control and application software, as we shall see in this chapter and
the next.
Connectionless Operation
In virtually all implementation, internetworking involves connectionless operation
at the level of the Internet Protocol. Whereas connection-oriented operation corre-
sponds to the virtual circuit mechanism of a packet-switching network (Figure
10.10), connectionless-mode operation corresponds to the datagram mechanism of
a packet-switching network (Figure 10.9). Each network protocol data unit is
treated independently and routed from source ES to destination ES through a series
of routers and networks. For each data unit transmitted by A, A makes a decision as
to which router should receive the data unit. The data unit hops across the internet
from one router to the next until it reaches the destination network. At each router,
a routing decision is made (independently for each data unit) concerning the next
hop. Thus, different data units may travel different routes between source and desti-
nation ES.
All ESs and all routers share a common network-layer protocol known
generically as the Internet Protocol.An Internet Protocol (IP) was initially devel-
oped for the DARPA internet project and published as RFC 791 and has become
an Internet Standard. Below this Internet Protocol, a protocol is needed to access
a particular network. Thus, there are typically two protocols operating in each ES
and router at the network layer: an upper sublayer that provides the internet-
working function, and a lower sublayer that provides network access. Figure 18.3
shows an example.
18.3 / INTERNET PROTOCOL OPERATION
569
LAN 1
LAN 2
Frame relay
WAN
Router
Router
(X)
(Y)
End system
End system
(A)
(B)
TCP
TCP
IP
IP
IP
IP
t1
t6
t7
t10
t11
t16
LLC
LLC
LLC
LLC
t2
t5
LAPF
LAPF
t12
t15
MAC
MAC
MAC
MAC
t3
t4
t8
t9
t13
t14
Physical
Physical
Physical
Physical
Physical
Physical
t1, t6, t7, t10, t11, t16
IP-H
TCP-H
Data
t2, t5
LLC1-H
IP-H
TCP-H
Data
t3, t4
MAC1-H
LLC1-H
IP-H
TCP-H
Data
MAC1-T
t8, t9
FR-H
IP-H
TCP-H
Data
FR-T
t12, t15
LLC2-H
IP-H
TCP-H
Data
t13, t14
MAC2-H
LLC2-H
IP-H
TCP-H
Data
MAC2-T
TCP-H
TCP header
MACi-T MAC trailer
IP-H
IP header
FR-H
Frame relay header
LLCi-H
LLC header
FR-T
Frame relay trailer
MACi-H
MAC header
Figure 18.3
Example of Internet Protocol Operation
18.3 INTERNET PROTOCOL OPERATION
In this section, we examine the essential functions of an internetwork protocol.
For convenience, we refer specifically to the Internet Standard IPv4, but the
narrative in this section applies to any connectionless Internet Protocol, such
as IPv6.
570
CHAPTER 18 / INTERNET PROTOCOLS
Operation of a Connectionless Internetworking Scheme
IP provides a connectionless, or datagram, service between end systems. There are a
number of advantages to this approach:
• A connectionless internet facility is flexible. It can deal with a variety of net-
works, some of which are themselves connectionless. In essence, IP requires
very little from the constituent networks.
• A connectionless internet service can be made highly robust. This is basically
the same argument made for a datagram network service versus a virtual cir-
cuit service. For a further discussion, see Section 10.5.
• A connectionless internet service is best for connectionless transport proto-
cols, because it does not impose unnecessary overhead.
Figure 18.3 depicts a typical example using IP, in which two LANs are intercon-
nected by a frame relay WAN.The figure depicts the operation of the Internet Protocol
for data exchange between host A on one LAN (network 1) and host B on another
LAN (network 2) through the WAN. The figure shows the protocol architecture and
format of the data unit at each stage.The end systems and routers must all share a com-
mon Internet Protocol. In addition, the end systems must share the same protocols
above IP. The intermediate routers need only implement up through IP.
The IP at A receives blocks of data to be sent to B from a higher layers of soft-
ware in A (e.g., TCP or UDP). IP attaches a header (at time
) specifying, among
t1
other things, the global internet address of B. That address is logically in two parts:
network identifier and end system identifier. The combination of IP header and
upper-level data is called an Internet Protocol data unit (PDU), or simply a data-
gram. The datagram is then encapsulated with the LAN protocol (LLC header at
t2;
MAC header and trailer at
) and sent to the router, which strips off the LAN fields
t3
to read the IP header
The router then encapsulates the datagram with the
(t6).
frame relay protocol fields
and transmits it across the WAN to another router.
(t8)
This router strips off the frame relay fields and recovers the datagram, which it then
wraps in LAN fields appropriate to LAN 2 and sends it to B.
Let us now look at this example in more detail. End system A has a datagram to
transmit to end system B; the datagram includes the internet address of B. The IP mod-
ule in A recognizes that the destination (B) is on another network. So the first step is to
send the data to a router, in this case router X. To do this, IP passes the datagram down
to the next lower layer (in this case LLC) with instructions to send it to router X. LLC
in turn passes this information down to the MAC layer, which inserts the MAC-level
address of router X into the MAC header. Thus, the block of data transmitted onto
LAN 1 includes data from a layer or layers above TCP, plus a TCP header, an IP
header, an LLC header, and a MAC header and trailer (time t in Figure 18.3).
3
Next, the packet travels through network 1 to router X. The router removes
MAC and LLC fields and analyzes the IP header to determine the ultimate destina-
tion of the data, in this case B. The router must now make a routing decision. There
are three possibilities:
1. The destination station B is connected directly to one of the networks to which the
router is attached. If so, the router sends the datagram directly to the destination.
18.3 / INTERNET PROTOCOL OPERATION
571
2. To reach the destination, one or more additional routers must be traversed.
If so, a routing decision must be made: To which router should the datagram
be sent? In both cases 1 and 2,the IP module in the router sends the datagram
down to the next lower layer with the destination network address. Please
note that we are speaking here of a lower-layer address that refers to this
network.
3. The router does not know the destination address. In this case, the router
returns an error message to the source of the datagram.
In this example, the data must pass through router Y before reaching the desti-
nation. So router X constructs a new frame by appending a frame relay (LAPF)
header and trailer to the IP datagram. The frame relay header indicates a logical
connection to router Y. When this frame arrives at router Y, the frame header and
trailer are stripped off. The router determines that this IP data unit is destined for B,
which is connected directly to a network to which this router is attached. The router
therefore creates a frame with a layer-2 destination address of B and sends it out
onto LAN 2. The data finally arrive at B, where the LAN and IP headers can be
stripped off.
At each router, before the data can be forwarded, the router may need to frag-
ment the datagram to accommodate a smaller maximum packet size limitation on
the outgoing network. If so, the data unit is split into two or more fragments, each of
which becomes an independent IP datagram. Each new data unit is wrapped in a
lower-layer packet and queued for transmission. The router may also limit the
length of its queue for each network to which it attaches so as to avoid having a slow
network penalize a faster one. Once the queue limit is reached, additional data units
are simply dropped.
The process just described continues through as many routers as it takes for
the data unit to reach its destination. As with a router, the destination end system
recovers the IP datagram from its network wrapping. If fragmentation has occurred,
the IP module in the destination end system buffers the incoming data until the
entire original data field can be reassembled. This block of data is then passed to a
higher layer in the end system.3
This service offered by IP is an unreliable one. That is, IP does not guaran-
tee that all data will be delivered or that the data that are delivered will arrive in
the proper order. It is the responsibility of the next higher layer (e.g., TCP) to
recover from any errors that occur. This approach provides for a great deal of
flexibility.
With the Internet Protocol approach, each unit of data is passed from router to
router in an attempt to get from source to destination. Because delivery is not
guaranteed, there is no particular reliability requirement on any of the networks.
Thus, the protocol will work with any combination of network types. Because the
sequence of delivery is not guaranteed, successive data units can follow different
paths through the internet. This allows the protocol to react to both congestion and
failure in the internet by changing routes.
3Appendix L provides a more detailed example, showing the involvement of all protocol layers.
572
CHAPTER 18 / INTERNET PROTOCOLS
Design Issues
With that brief sketch of the operation of an IP-controlled internet, we now exam-
ine some design issues in greater detail:
• Routing
• Datagram lifetime
• Fragmentation and reassembly
• Error control
• Flow control
As we proceed with this discussion, note the many similarities with design
issues and techniques relevant to packet-switching networks. To see the reason for
this, consider Figure 18.4, which compares an internet architecture with a packet-
switching network architecture. The routers (R1, R2, R3) in the internet correspond
S2
S1
T1
P1
P3
T2
T3
P2
(a) Packet-switching network architecture
N1
P
P
R1
S2
P
R3
S1
P
P
P
N2
P
P
R2
P
N3
(b) Internetwork architecture
Figure 18.4
The Internet as a Network (based on [HIND83])
18.3 / INTERNET PROTOCOL OPERATION
573
to the packet-switching nodes (P1, P2, P3) in the network, and the networks (N1, N2,
N3) in the internet correspond to the transmission links (T1, T2, T3) in the networks.
The routers perform essentially the same functions as packet-switching nodes and
use the intervening networks in a manner analogous to transmission links.
Routing For the purpose of routing, each end system and router maintains a rout-
ing table that lists, for each possible destination network, the next router to which
the internet datagram should be sent.
The routing table may be static or dynamic. A static table, however, could con-
tain alternate routes if a particular router is unavailable. A dynamic table is more
flexible in responding to both error and congestion conditions. In the Internet, for
example, when a router goes down, all of its neighbors will send out a status report,
allowing other routers and stations to update their routing tables. A similar scheme
can be used to control congestion. Congestion control is particularly important
because of the mismatch in capacity between local and wide area networks. Chapter
19 discusses routing protocols.
Routing tables may also be used to support other internetworking services,
such as security and priority. For example, individual networks might be classified to
handle data up to a given security classification. The routing mechanism must assure
that data of a given security level are not allowed to pass through networks not
cleared to handle such data.
Another routing technique is source routing. The source station specifies the
route by including a sequential list of routers in the datagram. This, again, could be
useful for security or priority requirements.
Finally, we mention a service related to routing: route recording. To record a
route, each router appends its internet address to a list of addresses in the datagram.
This feature is useful for testing and debugging purposes.
Datagram Lifetime If dynamic or alternate routing is used, the potential exists
for a datagram to loop indefinitely through the internet. This is undesirable for two
reasons. First, an endlessly circulating datagram consumes resources. Second, we will
see in Chapter 20 that a transport protocol may depend on the existence of an upper
bound on datagram lifetime. To avoid these problems, each datagram can be marked
with a lifetime. Once the lifetime expires, the datagram is discarded.
A simple way to implement lifetime is to use a hop count. Each time that a
datagram passes through a router, the count is decremented. Alternatively, the life-
time could be a true measure of time. This requires that the routers must somehow
know how long it has been since the datagram or fragment last crossed a router, to
know by how much to decrement the lifetime field. This would seem to require
some global clocking mechanism. The advantage of using a true time measure is that
it can be used in the reassembly algorithm, described next.
Fragmentation and Reassembly Individual networks within an internet may
specify different maximum packet sizes. It would be inefficient and unwieldy to try
to dictate uniform packet size across networks. Thus, routers may need to fragment
incoming datagrams into smaller pieces, called segments or fragments, before trans-
mitting on to the next network.
574
CHAPTER 18 / INTERNET PROTOCOLS
If datagrams can be fragmented (perhaps more than once) in the course of
their travels, the question arises as to where they should be reassembled. The easiest
solution is to have reassembly performed at the destination only. The principal dis-
advantage of this approach is that fragments can only get smaller as data move
through the internet. This may impair the efficiency of some networks. However, if
intermediate router reassembly is allowed, the following disadvantages result:
1. Large buffers are required at routers, and there is the risk that all of the buffer
space will be used up storing partial datagrams.
2. All fragments of a datagram must pass through the same router. This inhibits
the use of dynamic routing.
In IP, datagram fragments are reassembled at the destination end system. The
IP fragmentation technique uses the following information in the IP header:
• Data Unit Identifier (ID)
• Data Length4
• Offset
• More Flag
The ID is a means of uniquely identifying an end-system-originated datagram.
In IP, it consists of the source and destination addresses, a number that corresponds
to the protocol layer that generated the data (e.g., TCP), and an identification sup-
plied by that protocol layer. The Data Length is the length of the user data field in
octets, and the Offset is the position of a fragment of user data in the data field of the
original datagram, in multiples of 64 bits.
The source end system creates a datagram with a Data Length equal to the entire
length of the data field, with Offset
0, and a More Flag set to 0 (false). To fragment a
long datagram into two pieces, an IP module in a router performs the following tasks:
1. Create two new datagrams and copy the header fields of the incoming data-
gram into both.
2. Divide the incoming user data field into two portions along a 64-bit boundary
(counting from the beginning), placing one portion in each new datagram. The
first portion must be a multiple of 64 bits (8 octets).
3. Set the Data Length of the first new datagram to the length of the inserted data,
and set More Flag to 1 (true). The Offset field is unchanged.
4. Set the Data Length of the second new datagram to the length of the inserted
data, and add the length of the first data portion divided by 8 to the Offset
field. The More Flag remains the same.
Figure 18.5 gives an example in which two fragments are created from an
original IP datagram. The procedure is easily generalized to an n-way split. In this
example, the payload of the original IP datagram is a TCP segment, consisting of a
4In the IPv6 header, there is a Payload Length field that corresponds to Data Length in this discussion. In
the IPv4 header, there is Total Length field whose value is the length of the header plus data; the data
length must be calculated by subtracting the header length.
18.3 / INTERNET PROTOCOL OPERATION
575
Original IP datagram
Data length
404 octets
Segment offset
0; More
0
IP
TCP
header
header
TCP payload (384 octets)
(20
(20
octets)
octets)
IP
TCP
header
header
Partial TCP payload (188 octets)
(20
(20
octets)
octets)
First fragment
Data length
208 octets
Segment offset
0; More
1
IP
header
Partial TCP payload (196 octets)
(20
octets)
Second fragment
Data length
196 octets
Segment offset
26 64-bit units
(208 octets); More
0
Figure 18.5
Fragmentation Example
TCP header and application data. The IP header from the original datagram is used
in both fragments, with the appropriate changes to the fragmentation-related fields.
Note that the first fragment contains the TCP header; this header is not replicated in
the second fragment, because all of the IP payload, including the TCP header is
transparent to IP. That is, IP is not concerned with the contents of the payload of the
datagram.
To reassemble a datagram, there must be sufficient buffer space at the
reassembly point. As fragments with the same ID arrive, their data fields are
inserted in the proper position in the buffer until the entire data field is reassem-
bled, which is achieved when a contiguous set of data exists starting with an Offset of
zero and ending with data from a fragment with a false More Flag.
One eventuality that must be dealt with is that one or more of the fragments
may not get through: The IP service does not guarantee delivery. Some method is
needed to decide when to abandon a reassembly effort to free up buffer space. Two
approaches are commonly used. First, assign a reassembly lifetime to the first frag-
ment to arrive. This is a local, real-time clock assigned by the reassembly function
and decremented while the fragments of the original datagram are being buffered.
576
CHAPTER 18 / INTERNET PROTOCOLS
If the time expires prior to complete reassembly, the received fragments are dis-
carded. A second approach is to make use of the datagram lifetime, which is part of
the header of each incoming fragment. The lifetime field continues to be decre-
mented by the reassembly function; as with the first approach, if the lifetime expires
prior to complete reassembly, the received fragments are discarded.
Error Control The internetwork facility does not guarantee successful delivery
of every datagram. When a datagram is discarded by a router, the router should
attempt to return some information to the source, if possible. The source Internet
Protocol entity may use this information to modify its transmission strategy and
may notify higher layers. To report that a specific datagram has been discarded,
some means of datagram identification is needed. Such identification is discussed in
the next section.
Datagrams may be discarded for a number of reasons, including lifetime expi-
ration, congestion, and FCS error. In the latter case, notification is not possible
because the source address field may have been damaged.
Flow Control Internet flow control allows routers and/or receiving stations to
limit the rate at which they receive data. For the connectionless type of service we
are describing, flow control mechanisms are limited. The best approach would seem
to be to send flow control packets, requesting reduced data flow, to other routers
and source stations. We will see one example of this with Internet Control Message
Protocol (ICMP), discussed in the next section.
18.4
INTERNET PROTOCOL
In this section, we look at version 4 of IP, officially defined in RFC 791. Although it
is intended that IPv4 will ultimately be replaced by IPv6, it is currently the standard
IP used in TCP/IP networks.
The Internet Protocol (IP) is part of the TCP/IP suite and is the most widely
used internetworking protocol. As with any protocol standard, IP is specified in two
parts (see Figure 2.9):
• The interface with a higher layer (e.g., TCP), specifying the services that IP
provides
• The actual protocol format and mechanisms
In this section, we examine first IP services and then the protocol. This is fol-
lowed by a discussion of IP address formats. Finally, the Internet Control Message
Protocol (ICMP), which is an integral part of IP, is described.
IP Services
The services to be provided across adjacent protocol layers (e.g., between IP and
TCP) are expressed in terms of primitives and parameters. A primitive specifies
the function to be performed, and the parameters are used to pass data and con-
trol information. The actual form of a primitive is implementation dependent. An
example is a procedure call.
18.4 / INTERNET PROTOCOL
577
IP provides two service primitives at the interface to the next higher layer. The
Send primitive is used to request transmission of a data unit. The Deliver primitive
is used by IP to notify a user of the arrival of a data unit. The parameters associated
with the two primitives are as follows:
• Source address: Internetwork address of sending IP entity.
• Destination address: Internetwork address of destination IP entity.
• Protocol: Recipient protocol entity (an IP user, such as TCP).
• Type-of-service indicators: Used to specify the treatment of the data unit in its
transmission through component networks.
• Identification: Used in combination with the source and destination addresses
and user protocol to identify the data unit uniquely. This parameter is needed
for reassembly and error reporting.
• Don’t fragment identifier: Indicates whether IP can fragment data to accom-
plish delivery.
• Time to live: Measured in seconds.
• Data length: Length of data being transmitted.
• Option data: Options requested by the IP user.
• Data: User data to be transmitted.
The identification, don’t fragment identifier, and time to live parameters
are present in the Send primitive but not in the Deliver primitive. These three
parameters provide instructions to IP that are not of concern to the recipient IP
user.
The options parameter allows for future extensibility and for inclusion of
parameters that are usually not invoked. The currently defined options are as
follows:
• Security: Allows a security label to be attached to a datagram.
• Source routing: A sequenced list of router addresses that specifies the route to
be followed. Routing may be strict (only identified routers may be visited) or
loose (other intermediate routers may be visited).
• Route recording: A field is allocated to record the sequence of routers visited
by the datagram.
• Stream identification: Names reserved resources used for stream service. This
service provides special handling for volatile periodic traffic (e.g., voice).
• Timestamping: The source IP entity and some or all intermediate routers add
a timestamp (precision to milliseconds) to the data unit as it goes by.
Internet Protocol
The protocol between IP entities is best described with reference to the IP datagram
format, shown in Figure 18.6. The fields are as follows:
• Version (4 bits): Indicates version number, to allow evolution of the protocol;
the value is 4.
578
CHAPTER 18 / INTERNET PROTOCOLS
Bit:
0
4
8
14
16
19
31
Version
IHL
DS
ECN
Total Length
Identification
Flags
Fragment Offset
Time to Live
Protocol
Header Checksum
Source Address
Destination Address
Options Padding
Figure 18.6
IPv4 Header
•
Internet Header Length (IHL) (4 bits): Length of header in 32-bit words. The
minimum value is five, for a minimum header length of 20 octets.
•
DS/ECN (8 bits): Prior to the introduction of differentiated services, this
field was referred to as the Type of Service field and specified reliability,
precedence, delay, and throughput parameters. This interpretation has now
been superseded.The first six bits of this field are now referred to as the DS
(Differentiated Services) field, discussed in Chapter 19.The remaining 2 bits
are reserved for an ECN (Explicit Congestion Notification) field, currently
in the process of standardization.The ECN field provides for explicit signal-
ing of congestion in a manner similar to that discussed for frame relay
(Section 13.5).
•
Total Length (16 bits): Total datagram length, including header plus data, in octets.
•
Identification (16 bits): A sequence number that, together with the source
address, destination address, and user protocol, is intended to identify a data-
gram uniquely. Thus, this number should be unique for the datagram’s source
address, destination address, and user protocol for the time during which the
datagram will remain in the internet.
•
Flags (3 bits): Only two of the bits are currently defined. The More bit is used
for fragmentation and reassembly, as previously explained. The Don’t Frag-
ment bit prohibits fragmentation when set. This bit may be useful if it is known
that the destination does not have the capability to reassemble fragments.
However, if this bit is set, the datagram will be discarded if it exceeds the
maximum size of an en route network. Therefore, if the bit is set, it may be
advisable to use source routing to avoid networks with small maximum
packet size.
•
Fragment Offset (13 bits): Indicates where in the original datagram this
fragment belongs, measured in 64-bit units. This implies that fragments other
18.4 / INTERNET PROTOCOL
579
than the last fragment must contain a data field that is a multiple of 64 bits
in length.
•
Time to Live (8 bits): Specifies how long, in seconds, a datagram is allowed to
remain in the internet. Every router that processes a datagram must decrease
the TTL by at least one, so the TTL is similar to a hop count.
•
Protocol (8 bits): Indicates the next higher level protocol that is to receive the
data field at the destination; thus, this field identifies the type of the next header
in the packet after the IP header. Example values are
TCP = 6; UDP =
assignments/protocol-numbers.
•
Header Checksum (16 bits): An error-detecting code applied to the header
only. Because some header fields may change during transit (e.g., Time to Live,
fragmentation-related fields), this is reverified and recomputed at each router.
The checksum is formed by taking the ones complement of the 16-bit ones
complement addition of all 16-bit words in the header. For purposes of com-
putation, the checksum field is itself initialized to a value of zero.5
•
Source Address (32 bits): Coded to allow a variable allocation of bits to
specify the network and the end system attached to the specified network, as
discussed subsequently.
•
Destination Address (32 bits): Same characteristics as source address.
•
Options (variable): Encodes the options requested by the sending user.
•
Padding (variable): Used to ensure that the datagram header is a multiple of
32 bits in length.
•
Data (variable): The data field must be an integer multiple of 8 bits in length.
The maximum length of the datagram (data field plus header) is 65,535 octets.
It should be clear how the IP services specified in the Send and Deliver primi-
tives map into the fields of the IP datagram.
IP Addresses
The source and destination address fields in the IP header each contain a 32-bit global
internet address, generally consisting of a network identifier and a host identifier.
Network Classes The address is coded to allow a variable allocation of bits to
specify network and host, as depicted in Figure 18.7. This encoding provides
flexibility in assigning addresses to hosts and allows a mix of network sizes on an
internet. The three principal network classes are best suited to the following
conditions:
• Class A: Few networks, each with many hosts
• Class B: Medium number of networks, each with a medium number of hosts
• Class C: Many networks, each with a few hosts
5A discussion of this checksum is contained in Appendix K.
580
CHAPTER 18 / INTERNET PROTOCOLS
0
Network (7 bits)
Host (24 bits)
Class A
1
0
Network (14 bits)
Host (16 bits)
Class B
1
1
0
Network (21 bits)
Host (8 bits)
Class C
1
1
1
0
Multicast
Class D
1
1
1
1
0
Future use
Class E
Figure 18.7
IPv4 Address Formats
In a particular environment, it may be best to use addresses all from one
class. For example, a corporate internetwork that consist of a large number of
departmental local area networks may need to use Class C addresses exclusively.
However, the format of the addresses is such that it is possible to mix all three
classes of addresses on the same internetwork; this is what is done in the case of
the Internet itself.A mixture of classes is appropriate for an internetwork consist-
ing of a few large networks, many small networks, plus some medium-sized net-
works.
IP addresses are usually written in dotted decimal notation, with a decimal
number representing each of the octets of the 32-bit address. For example, the IP
address 11000000 11100100 00010001 00111001 is written as 192.228.17.57.
Note that all Class A network addresses begin with a binary 0. Network
addresses with a first octet of 0 (binary 00000000) and 127 (binary 01111111) are
reserved, so there are 126 potential Class A network numbers, which have a first
dotted decimal number in the range 1 to 126. Class B network addresses begin with
a binary 10, so that the range of the first decimal number in a Class B address is 128
to 191(binary 10000000 to 10111111). The second octet is also part of the Class B
address, so that there are
Class B addresses. For Class C addresses, the
214 = 16,384
first decimal number ranges from 192 to 223 (11000000 to 11011111). The total num-
ber of Class C addresses is
221 = 2,097,152.
Subnets and Subnet Masks The concept of subnet was introduced to address
the following requirement. Consider an internet that includes one or more WANs
and a number of sites, each of which has a number of LANs. We would like to allow
arbitrary complexity of interconnected LAN structures within an organization
while insulating the overall internet against explosive growth in network numbers
18.4 / INTERNET PROTOCOL
581
and routing complexity. One approach to this problem is to assign a single network
number to all of the LANs at a site. From the point of view of the rest of the inter-
net, there is a single network at that site, which simplifies addressing and routing. To
allow the routers within the site to function properly, each LAN is assigned a subnet
number. The host portion of the internet address is partitioned into a subnet number
and a host number to accommodate this new level of addressing.
Within the subnetted network, the local routers must route on the basis of an
extended network number consisting of the network portion of the IP address and the
subnet number. The bit positions containing this extended network number are indi-
cated by the address mask. The use of the address mask allows the host to determine
whether an outgoing datagram is destined for a host on the same LAN (send directly)
or another LAN (send datagram to router). It is assumed that some other means (e.g.,
manual configuration) are used to create address masks and make them known to the
local routers.
Table 18.3a shows the calculations involved in the use of a subnet mask. Note
that the effect of the subnet mask is to erase the portion of the host field that refers
to an actual host on a subnet. What remains is the network number and the subnet
number. Figure 18.8 shows an example of the use of subnetting. The figure shows a
local complex consisting of three LANs and two routers. To the rest of the internet,
this complex is a single network with a Class C address of the form 192.228.17.x,
where the leftmost three octets are the network number and the rightmost octet
contains a host number x. Both routers R1 and R2 are configured with a subnet
Table 18.3
IP Addresses and Subnet Masks [STEI95]
(a) Dotted decimal and binary representations of IP address and subnet masks
Binary Representation
Dotted Decimal
IP address
11000000.11100100.00010001.00111001
192.228.17.57
Subnet mask
11111111.11111111.11111111.11100000
255.255.255.224
Bitwise AND of address and mask
11000000.11100100.00010001.00100000
192.228.17.32
(resultant network/subnet number)
Subnet number
11000000.11100100.00010001.001
1
Host number
00000000.00000000.00000000.00011001
25
(b) Default subnet masks
Binary Representation
Dotted Decimal
Class A default mask
11111111.00000000.00000000.00000000
255.0.0.0
Example Class A mask
11111111.11000000.00000000.00000000
255.192.0.0
Class B default mask
11111111.11111111.00000000.00000000
255.255.0.0
Example Class B mask
11111111.11111111.11111000.00000000
255.255.248.0
Class C default mask
11111111.11111111.11111111.00000000
255.255. 255.0
Example Class C mask
11111111.11111111.11111111.11111100
255.255. 255.252
582
CHAPTER 18 / INTERNET PROTOCOLS
LAN XNet ID/Subnet ID: 192.228.17.32
Subnet number: 1
A
B
Rest of
internet
R1
IP Address: 192.228.17.33
IP Address: 192.228.17.57
Host number: 1
Host number: 25
LAN YNet ID/Subnet ID: 192.228.17.64
Subnet number: 2
C
R2
IP Address: 192.228.17.65
Host number: 1
LAN Z Net ID/Subnet ID: 192.228.17.96
Subnet number: 3
D
IP Address: 192.228.17.97
Host number: 1
Figure 18.8
Example of Subnetworking
mask with the value 255.255.255.224 (see Table 18.3a). For example, if a datagram
with the destination address 192.228.17.57 arrives at R1 from either the rest of the
internet or from LAN Y, R1 applies the subnet mask to determine that this address
refers to subnet 1, which is LAN X, and so forwards the datagram to LAN X. Simi-
larly, if a datagram with that destination address arrives at R2 from LAN Z, R2
applies the mask and then determines from its forwarding database that datagrams
destined for subnet 1 should be forwarded to R1. Hosts must also employ a subnet
mask to make routing decisions.
The default subnet mask for a given class of addresses is a null mask (Table
18.3b), which yields the same network and host number as the non-subnetted address.
Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP)
The IP standard specifies that a compliant implementation must also implement
ICMP (RFC 792). ICMP provides a means for transferring messages from
routers and other hosts to a host. In essence, ICMP provides feedback about
problems in the communication environment. Examples of its use are when a
datagram cannot reach its destination, when the router does not have the buffer-
ing capacity to forward a datagram, and when the router can direct the station to
send traffic on a shorter route. In most cases, an ICMP message is sent in
response to a datagram, either by a router along the datagram’s path or by the
intended destination host.
18.4 / INTERNET PROTOCOL
583
0
8
16
31
0
8
16
31
Type
Code
Checksum
Type
Code
Checksum
Unused
Identifier
Sequence number
IPHeader
64 bits of original datagram
Originate timestamp
(a) Destination unreachable; time exceeded; source quench
(e) Timestamp
0
8
16
31
0
8
16
31
Type
Code
Checksum
Type
Code
Checksum
Pointer
Unused
Identifier
Sequence number
IP Header
64 bits of original datagram
Originate timestamp
Receive timestamp
(b) Parameter problem
Transmit timestamp
(f) Timestamp reply
0
8
16
31
0
8
16
31
Type
Code
Checksum
Type
Code
Checksum
Gateway Internet address
Identifier
Sequence number
IP Header
64 bits of original datagram
(g) Address mask request
(c) Redirect
0
8
16
31
0
8
16
31
Type
Code
Checksum
Type
Code
Checksum
Identifier
Sequence number
Identifier
Sequence number
Optional data
Address mask
(d) Echo, echo reply
(h) Address mask reply
Figure 18.9
ICMP Message Formats
Although ICMP is, in effect, at the same level as IP in the TCP/IP architecture,
it is a user of IP. An ICMP message is constructed and then passed down to IP, which
encapsulates the message with an IP header and then transmits the resulting data-
gram in the usual fashion. Because ICMP messages are transmitted in IP datagrams,
their delivery is not guaranteed and their use cannot be considered reliable.
Figure 18.9 shows the format of the various ICMP message types. An ICMP
message starts with a 64-bit header consisting of the following:
• Type (8 bits): Specifies the type of ICMP message.
• Code (8 bits): Used to specify parameters of the message that can be encoded
in one or a few bits.
• Checksum (16 bits): Checksum of the entire ICMP message. This is the same
checksum algorithm used for IP.
• Parameters (32 bits): Used to specify more lengthy parameters.
These fields are generally followed by additional information fields that fur-
ther specify the content of the message.
In those cases in which the ICMP message refers to a prior datagram, the
information field includes the entire IP header plus the first 64 bits of the data field
of the original datagram. This enables the source host to match the incoming ICMP
message with the prior datagram. The reason for including the first 64 bits of the
data field is that this will enable the IP module in the host to determine which
584
CHAPTER 18 / INTERNET PROTOCOLS
upper-level protocol or protocols were involved. In particular, the first 64 bits would
include a portion of the TCP header or other transport-level header.
The destination unreachable message covers a number of contingencies. A
router may return this message if it does not know how to reach the destination net-
work. In some networks, an attached router may be able to determine if a particular
host is unreachable and returns the message. The destination host itself may return
this message if the user protocol or some higher-level service access point is
unreachable. This could happen if the corresponding field in the IP header was set
incorrectly. If the datagram specifies a source route that is unusable, a message is
returned. Finally, if a router must fragment a datagram but the Don’t Fragment flag
is set, the datagram is discarded and a message is returned.
A router will return a time exceeded message if the lifetime of the datagram
expires. A host will send this message if it cannot complete reassembly within a time
limit.
A syntactic or semantic error in an IP header will cause a parameter problem
message to be returned by a router or host. For example, an incorrect argument may
be provided with an option. The Parameter field contains a pointer to the octet in
the original header where the error was detected.
The source quench message provides a rudimentary form of flow control.
Either a router or a destination host may send this message to a source host,
requesting that it reduce the rate at which it is sending traffic to the internet des-
tination. On receipt of a source quench message, the source host should cut back
the rate at which it is sending traffic to the specified destination until it no longer
receives source quench messages. The source quench message can be used by a
router or host that must discard datagrams because of a full buffer. In that case,
the router or host will issue a source quench message for every datagram that it
discards. In addition, a system may anticipate congestion and issue source quench
messages when its buffers approach capacity. In that case, the datagram referred
to in the source quench message may well be delivered. Thus, receipt of a source
quench message does not imply delivery or nondelivery of the corresponding
datagram.
A router sends a redirect message to a host on a directly connected router to
advise the host of a better route to a particular destination. The following is an
example, using Figure 18.8. Router R1 receives a datagram from host C on network
Y, to which R1 is attached. R1 checks its routing table and obtains the address for
the next router, R2, on the route to the datagram’s internet destination network, Z.
Because R2 and the host identified by the internet source address of the datagram
are on the same network, R1 sends a redirect message to C. The redirect message
advises the host to send its traffic for network Z directly to router R2, because this is
a shorter path to the destination. The router forwards the original datagram to its
internet destination (via R2). The address of R2 is contained in the parameter field
of the redirect message.
The echo and echo reply messages provide a mechanism for testing that
communication is possible between entities. The recipient of an echo message is
obligated to return the message in an echo reply message. An identifier and
sequence number are associated with the echo message to be matched in the
echo reply message. The identifier might be used like a service access point to
18.4 / INTERNET PROTOCOL
585
identify a particular session, and the sequence number might be incremented on
each echo request sent.
The timestamp and timestamp reply messages provide a mechanism for
sampling the delay characteristics of the internet.The sender of a timestamp mes-
sage may include an identifier and sequence number in the parameters field and
include the time that the message is sent (originate timestamp). The receiver
records the time it received the message and the time that it transmits the reply
message in the timestamp reply message. If the timestamp message is sent using
strict source routing, then the delay characteristics of a particular route can be
measured.
The address mask request and address mask reply messages are useful in
an environment that includes subnets. The address mask request and reply
messages allow a host to learn the address mask for the LAN to which it con-
nects. The host broadcasts an address mask request message on the LAN. The
router on the LAN responds with an address mask reply message that contains
the address mask.
Address Resolution Protocol (ARP)
Earlier in this chapter, we referred to the concepts of a global address (IP
address) and an address that conforms to the addressing scheme of the network
to which a host is attached (subnetwork address). For a local area network, the
latter address is a MAC address, which provides a physical address for a host port
attached to the LAN. Clearly, to deliver an IP datagram to a destination host, a
mapping must be made from the IP address to the subnetwork address for that
last hop. If a datagram traverses one or more routers between source and desti-
nation hosts, then the mapping must be done in the final router, which is attached
to the same subnetwork as the destination host. If a datagram is sent from one
host to another on the same subnetwork, then the source host must do the map-
ping. In the following discussion, we use the term system to refer to the entity that
does the mapping.
For mapping from an IP address to a subnetwork address, a number of
approaches are possible, including
• Each system can maintain a local table of IP addresses and matching subnet-
work addresses for possible correspondents. This approach does not accom-
modate easy and automatic additions of new hosts to the subnetwork.
• The subnetwork address can be a subset of the network portion of the IP
address. However, the entire internet address is 32 bits long and for most sub-
network types (e.g., Ethernet) the Host Address field is longer than 32 bits.
• A centralized directory can be maintained on each subnetwork that contains the
IP-subnet address mappings. This is a reasonable solution for many networks.
• An address resolution protocol can be used. This is a simpler approach than
the use of a centralized directory and is well suited to LANs.
RFC 826 defines an Address Resolution Protocol (ARP), which allows
dynamic distribution of the information needed to build tables to translate an IP
address A into a 48-bit Ethernet address; the protocol can be used for any broadcast
586
CHAPTER 18 / INTERNET PROTOCOLS
network. ARP exploits the broadcast property of a LAN; namely, that a transmis-
sion from any device on the network is received by all other devices on the network.
ARP works as follows:
1. Each system on the LAN maintains a table of known IP-subnetwork address
mappings.
2. When a subnetwork address is needed for an IP address, and the mapping is not
found in the system’s table, the system uses ARP directly on top of the LAN pro-
tocol (e.g., IEEE 802) to broadcast a request.The broadcast message contains the
IP address for which a subnetwork address is needed.
3. Other hosts on the subnetwork listen for ARP messages and reply when a
match occurs. The reply includes both the IP and subnetwork addresses of the
replying host.
4. The original request includes the requesting host’s IP address and subnetwork
address. Any interested host can copy this information into its local table, avoid-
ing the need for later ARP messages.
5. The ARP message can also be used simply to broadcast a host’s IP address and
subnetwork address, for the benefit of others on the subnetwork.
18.5
IPv6
The Internet Protocol (IP) has been the foundation of the Internet and virtually all
multivendor private internetworks. This protocol is reaching the end of its useful life
and a new protocol, known as IPv6 (IP version 6), has been defined to ultimately
replace IP.6
We first look at the motivation for developing a new version of IP and then
examine some of its details.
IP Next Generation
The driving motivation for the adoption of a new version of IP was the limitation
imposed by the 32-bit address field in IPv4.With a 32-bit address field, it is possi-
ble in principle to assign
different addresses, which is over 4 billion possible
232
addresses. One might think that this number of addresses was more than ade-
quate to meet addressing needs on the Internet. However, in the late 1980s it was
perceived that there would be a problem, and this problem began to manifest
itself in the early 1990s. Reasons for the inadequacy of 32-bit addresses include
the following:
• The two-level structure of the IP address (network number, host number) is
convenient but wasteful of the address space. Once a network number is
assigned to a network, all of the host-number addresses for that network
number are assigned to that network.The address space for that network may
6The currently deployed version of IP is IP version 4; previous versions of IP (1 through 3) were succes-
sively defined and replaced to reach IPv4. Version 5 is the number assigned to the Stream Protocol, a
connection-oriented internet-layer protocol; hence the use of the label version 6.
18.5 / IPv6
587
be sparsely used, but as far as the effective IP address space is concerned, if a
network number is used, then all addresses within the network are used.
• The IP addressing model generally requires that a unique network number be
assigned to each IP network whether or not it is actually connected to the
Internet.
• Networks are proliferating rapidly. Most organizations boast multiple LANs,
not just a single LAN system. Wireless networks have rapidly assumed a major
role. The Internet itself has grown explosively for years.
• Growth of TCP/IP usage into new areas will result in a rapid growth in the
demand for unique IP addresses. Examples include using TCP/IP to intercon-
nect electronic point-of-sale terminals and for cable television receivers.
• Typically, a single IP address is assigned to each host. A more flexible arrange-
ment is to allow multiple IP addresses per host. This, of course, increases the
demand for IP addresses.
So the need for an increased address space dictated that a new version of IP
was needed. In addition, IP is a very old protocol, and new requirements in the
areas of address configuration, routing flexibility, and traffic support had been
defined.
In response to these needs, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) issued
a call for proposals for a next generation IP (IPng) in July of 1992. A number of
proposals were received, and by 1994 the final design for IPng emerged. A major
milestone was reached with the publication of RFC 1752, “The Recommendation
for the IP Next Generation Protocol,” issued in January 1995. RFC 1752 outlines the
requirements for IPng, specifies the PDU formats, and highlights the IPng approach
in the areas of addressing, routing, and security. A number of other Internet docu-
ments defined details of the protocol, now officially called IPv6; these include an
overall specification of IPv6 (RFC 2460), an RFC dealing with addressing structure
of IPv6 (RFC 2373), and numerous others.
IPv6 includes the following enhancements over IPv4:
• Expanded address space: IPv6 uses 128-bit addresses instead of the 32-bit
addresses of IPv4. This is an increase of address space by a factor of
It
296.
has been pointed out [HIND95] that this allows on the order of
6 * 1023
unique addresses per square meter of the surface of the earth. Even if
addresses are very inefficiently allocated, this address space seems inex-
haustible.
• Improved option mechanism: IPv6 options are placed in separate optional
headers that are located between the IPv6 header and the transport-layer
header. Most of these optional headers are not examined or processed by any
router on the packet’s path. This simplifies and speeds up router processing of
IPv6 packets compared to IPv4 datagrams.7
It also makes it easier to add
additional options.
7The protocol data unit for IPv6 is referred to as a packet rather than a datagram, which is the term used
for IPv4 PDUs.
588
CHAPTER 18 / INTERNET PROTOCOLS
• Address autoconfiguration: This capability provides for dynamic assignment
of IPv6 addresses.
• Increased addressing flexibility: IPv6 includes the concept of an anycast
address, for which a packet is delivered to just one of a set of nodes. The scala-
bility of multicast routing is improved by adding a scope field to multicast
addresses.
• Support for resource allocation: IPv6 enables the labeling of packets
belonging to a particular traffic flow for which the sender requests special
handling. This aids in the support of specialized traffic such as real-time
video.
All of these features are explored in the remainder of this section.
IPv6 Structure
An IPv6 protocol data unit (known as a packet) has the following general form:
0 or
;!40 octets !: ;!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!:
more
IPv6 header
Extension header
Extension header
Transport-level PDU
The only header that is required is referred to simply as the IPv6 header. This is
of fixed size with a length of 40 octets, compared to 20 octets for the mandatory por-
tion of the IPv4 header (Figure 18.6). The following extension headers have been
defined:
• Hop-by-Hop Options header: Defines special options that require hop-by-hop
processing
• Routing header: Provides extended routing, similar to IPv4 source routing
• Fragment header: Contains fragmentation and reassembly information
• Authentication header: Provides packet integrity and authentication
• Encapsulating Security Payload header: Provides privacy
• Destination Options header: Contains optional information to be examined
by the destination node
The IPv6 standard recommends that, when multiple extension headers are
used, the IPv6 headers appear in the following order:
1. IPv6 header: Mandatory, must always appear first
2. Hop-by-Hop Options header
3. Destination Options header: For options to be processed by the first destination
that appears in the IPv6 Destination Address field plus subsequent destinations
listed in the Routing header
4. Routing header
5. Fragment header
6. Authentication header
7. Encapsulating Security Payload header
18.5 / IPv6
589
8. Destination Options header: For options to be processed only by the final des-
tination of the packet
Figure 18.10 shows an example of an IPv6 packet that includes an instance
of each header, except those related to security. Note that the IPv6 header and
each extension header include a Next Header field. This field identifies the type
of the immediately following header. If the next header is an extension header,
then this field contains the type identifier of that header. Otherwise, this field
contains the protocol identifier of the upper-layer protocol using IPv6 (typically
a transport-level protocol), using the same values as the IPv4 Protocol field. In
Figure 18.10, the upper-layer protocol is TCP; thus, the upper-layer data carried
by the IPv6 packet consist of a TCP header followed by a block of application
data.
We first look at the main IPv6 header and then examine each of the extensions
in turn.
Octets:
40
Mandatory
IPv6 header
IPv6 header
Hop-by-hop
Variable
options header
Optional
Variable
Routing header
extension
headers
8
Fragment header
Destination options
Variable
header
20 (optional variable part)
TCP header
IPv6
packet
Variable
body
Application data
Next Header field
Figure 18.10
IPv6 Packet with Extension Headers (containing a TCP
Segment)
590
CHAPTER 18 / INTERNET PROTOCOLS
Bit:
0
4
10
12
16
24
31
Version
DS
ECN
Flow Label
Payload Length
Next Header
Hop Limit
Source Address
Destination Address
Figure 18.11
IPv6 Header
IPv6 Header
The IPv6 header has a fixed length of 40 octets, consisting of the following fields
(Figure 18.11):
• Version (4 bits): Internet protocol version number; the value is 6.
• DS/ECN (8 bits): Available for use by originating nodes and/or forwarding
routers for differentiated services and congestion functions, as described for
the IPv4 DS/ECN field.
• Flow Label (20 bits): May be used by a host to label those packets for which it is
requesting special handling by routers within a network; discussed subsequently.
• Payload Length (16 bits): Length of the remainder of the IPv6 packet follow-
ing the header, in octets. In other words, this is the total length of all of the
extension headers plus the transport-level PDU.
• Next Header (8 bits): Identifies the type of header immediately following the
IPv6 header; this will either be an IPv6 extension header or a higher-layer
header, such as TCP or UDP.
• Hop Limit (8 bits): The remaining number of allowable hops for this packet. The
hop limit is set to some desired maximum value by the source and decremented
by 1 by each node that forwards the packet. The packet is discarded if Hop Limit
is decremented to zero. This is a simplification over the processing required for
the Time to Live field of IPv4. The consensus was that the extra effort in account-
ing for time intervals in IPv4 added no significant value to the protocol. In fact,
IPv4 routers, as a general rule, treat the Time to Live field as a hop limit field.
• Source Address (128 bits): The address of the originator of the packet.
18.5 / IPv6
591
• Destination Address (128 bits): The address of the intended recipient of the
packet. This may not in fact be the intended ultimate destination if a Routing
header is present, as explained subsequently.
Although the IPv6 header is longer than the mandatory portion of the IPv4
header (40 octets versus 20 octets), it contains fewer fields (8 versus 12). Thus,
routers have less processing to do per header, which should speed up routing.
Flow Label RFC 3967 defines a flow as a sequence of packets sent from a partic-
ular source to a particular (unicast, anycast, or multicast) destination for which the
source desires special handling by the intervening routers. A flow is uniquely identi-
fied by the combination of a source address, destination address, and a nonzero
20-bit flow label. Thus, all packets that are to be part of the same flow are assigned
the same flow label by the source.
From the source’s point of view, a flow typically will be a sequence of packets
that are generated from a single application instance at the source and that have the
same transfer service requirements. A flow may comprise a single TCP connection
or even multiple TCP connections; an example of the latter is a file transfer applica-
tion, which could have one control connection and multiple data connections. A sin-
gle application may generate a single flow or multiple flows. An example of the
latter is multimedia conferencing, which might have one flow for audio and one for
graphic windows, each with different transfer requirements in terms of data rate,
delay, and delay variation.
From the router’s point of view, a flow is a sequence of packets that share
attributes that affect how these packets are handled by the router. These include
path, resource allocation, discard requirements, accounting, and security attributes.
The router may treat packets from different flows differently in a number of ways,
including allocating different buffer sizes, giving different precedence in terms of
forwarding, and requesting different quality of service from networks.
There is no special significance to any particular flow label. Instead the special
handling to be provided for a packet flow must be declared in some other way. For
example, a source might negotiate or request special handling ahead of time from
routers by means of a control protocol, or at transmission time by information in
one of the extension headers in the packet, such as the Hop-by-Hop Options
header. Examples of special handling that might be requested include some sort of
nondefault quality of service and some form of real-time service.
In principle, all of a user’s requirements for a particular flow could be defined
in an extension header and included with each packet. If we wish to leave the con-
cept of flow open to include a wide variety of requirements, this design approach
could result in very large packet headers. The alternative, adopted for IPv6, is the
flow label, in which the flow requirements are defined prior to flow commencement
and a unique flow label is assigned to the flow. In this case, the router must save flow
requirement information about each flow.
The following rules apply to the flow label:
1. Hosts or routers that do not support the Flow Label field must set the field to
zero when originating a packet, pass the field unchanged when forwarding a
packet, and ignore the field when receiving a packet.
592
CHAPTER 18 / INTERNET PROTOCOLS
2. All packets originating from a given source with the same nonzero Flow Label
must have the same Destination Address, Source Address, Hop-by-Hop
Options header contents (if this header is present), and Routing header con-
tents (if this header is present). The intent is that a router can decide how to
route and process the packet by simply looking up the flow label in a table and
without examining the rest of the header.
3. The source assigns a flow label to a flow. New flow labels must be chosen
(pseudo-) randomly and uniformly in the range 1 to
subject to the
220 - 1,
restriction that a source must not reuse a flow label for a new flow within the
lifetime of the existing flow. The zero flow label is reserved to indicate that no
flow label is being used.
This last point requires some elaboration. The router must maintain informa-
tion about the characteristics of each active flow that may pass through it, presum-
ably in some sort of table. To forward packets efficiently and rapidly, table lookup
must be efficient. One alternative is to have a table with
(about 1 million) entries,
220
one for each possible flow label; this imposes an unnecessary memory burden on the
router. Another alternative is to have one entry in the table per active flow, include
the flow label with each entry, and require the router to search the entire table each
time a packet is encountered. This imposes an unnecessary processing burden on the
router. Instead, most router designs are likely to use some sort of hash table
approach. With this approach a moderate-sized table is used, and each flow entry is
mapped into the table using a hashing function on the flow label. The hashing func-
tion might simply be the low-order few bits (say 8 or 10) of the flow label or some
simple calculation on the 20 bits of the flow label. In any case, the efficiency of the
hash approach typically depends on the flow labels being uniformly distributed over
their possible range. Hence requirement number 3 in the preceding list.
IPv6 Addresses
IPv6 addresses are 128 bits in length. Addresses are assigned to individual interfaces
on nodes, not to the nodes themselves.8 A single interface may have multiple unique
unicast addresses. Any of the unicast addresses associated with a node’s interface
may be used to uniquely identify that node.
The combination of long addresses and multiple addresses per interface
enables improved routing efficiency over IPv4. In IPv4, addresses generally do not
have a structure that assists routing, and therefore a router may need to maintain
huge table of routing paths. Longer internet addresses allow for aggregating
addresses by hierarchies of network, access provider, geography, corporation, and so
on. Such aggregation should make for smaller routing tables and faster table
lookups. The allowance for multiple addresses per interface would allow a sub-
scriber that uses multiple access providers across the same interface to have sepa-
rate addresses aggregated under each provider’s address space.
IPv6 allows three types of addresses:
• Unicast: An identifier for a single interface. A packet sent to a unicast address
is delivered to the interface identified by that address.
8In IPv6, a node is any device that implements IPv6; this includes hosts and routers.
18.5 / IPv6
593
• Anycast: An identifier for a set of interfaces (typically belonging to different
nodes). A packet sent to an anycast address is delivered to one of the inter-
faces identified by that address (the “nearest” one, according to the routing
protocols’ measure of distance).
• Multicast: An identifier for a set of interfaces (typically belonging to different
nodes). A packet sent to a multicast address is delivered to all interfaces iden-
tified by that address.
Hop-by-Hop Options Header
The Hop-by-Hop Options header carries optional information that, if present, must
be examined by every router along the path. This header consists of (Figure 18.12a):
• Next Header (8 bits): Identifies the type of header immediately following this
header.
• Header Extension Length (8 bits): Length of this header in 64-bit units, not
including the first 64 bits.
• Options: A variable-length field consisting of one or more option definitions.
Each definition is in the form of three subfields: Option Type (8 bits), which
identifies the option; Length (8 bits), which specifies the length of the Option
Data field in octets; and Option Data, which is a variable-length specification
of the option.
0
8
16
31
0
8
16
24
31
Next header
Hdr ext len
Next header
Hdr ext len
0
Segments left
Reserved
One or more options
Address[1]
(a) Hop-by-Hop options header;
destination options header
Address[2]
0
8
16
29
31
Next header
Reserved
Fragment offset
Res
M
Identification
(b) Fragment header
0
8
16
31
Next header
Hdr ext len
Routing type
Segments left
Address[n]
Type-specific data
(d) Type 0 routing header
(c) Generic routing header
Figure 18.12
IPv6 Extension Headers
594
CHAPTER 18 / INTERNET PROTOCOLS
It is actually the lowest-order five bits of the Option Type field that are used to
specify a particular option. The high-order two bits indicate that action to be taken
by a node that does not recognize this option type, as follows:
• 00—Skip over this option and continue processing the header.
• 01—Discard the packet.
• 10—Discard the packet and send an ICMP Parameter Problem message to the
packet’s Source Address, pointing to the unrecognized Option Type.
• 11—Discard the packet and, only if the packet’s Destination Address is not a
multicast address, send an ICMP Parameter Problem message to the packet’s
Source Address, pointing to the unrecognized Option Type.
The third highest-order bit specifies whether the Option Data field does not
change (0) or may change (1) en route from source to destination. Data that may
change must be excluded from authentication calculations, as discussed in Chapter 21.
These conventions for the Option Type field also apply to the Destination
Options header.
Four hop-by-hop options have been specified so far:
•
Pad1: Used to insert one byte of padding into the Options area of the header.
•
PadN: Used to insert N bytes
of padding into the Options area of the
(N Ú 2)
header. The two padding options ensure that the header is a multiple of 8 bytes
in length.
•
Jumbo payload: Used to send IPv6 packets with payloads longer than 65,535
octets. The Option Data field of this option is 32 bits long and gives the length of
the packet in octets, excluding the IPv6 header. For such packets, the Payload
Length field in the IPv6 header must be set to zero, and there must be no
Fragment header. With this option, IPv6 supports packet sizes up to more than 4
billion octets. This facilitates the transmission of large video packets and enables
IPv6 to make the best use of available capacity over any transmission medium.
•
Router alert: Informs the router that the contents of this packet is of interest to
the router and to handle any control data accordingly.The absence of this option
in an IPv6 datagram informs the router that the packet does not contain infor-
mation needed by the router and hence can be safely routed without further
packet parsing. Hosts originating IPv6 packets are required to include this
option in certain circumstances. The purpose of this option is to provide efficient
support for protocols such as RSVP (Chapter 19) that generate packets that
need to be examined by intermediate routers for purposes of traffic control.
Rather than requiring the intermediate routers to look in detail at the extension
headers of a packet, this option alerts the router when such attention is required.
Fragment Header
In IPv6, fragmentation may only be performed by source nodes, not by routers
along a packet’s delivery path. To take full advantage of the internetworking envi-
ronment, a node must perform a path discovery algorithm that enables it to learn
the smallest maximum transmission unit (MTU) supported by any network on the
path. With this knowledge, the source node will fragment, as required, for each given
18.5 / IPv6
595
destination address. Otherwise the source must limit all packets to 1280 octets,
which is the minimum MTU that must be supported by each network.
The fragment header consists of the following (Figure 18.12b):
• Next Header (8 bits): Identifies the type of header immediately following this
header.
• Reserved (8 bits): For future use.
• Fragment Offset (13 bits): Indicates where in the original packet the payload of
this fragment belongs, measured in 64-bit units.This implies that fragments (other
than the last fragment) must contain a data field that is a multiple of 64 bits long.
• Res (2 bits): Reserved for future use.
• M Flag (1 bit):
1 = more fragments; 0 = last fragment.
• Identification (32 bits): Intended to uniquely identify the original packet. The
identifier must be unique for the packet’s source address and destination
address for the time during which the packet will remain in the internet. All
fragments with the same identifier, source address, and destination address are
reassembled to form the original packet.
The fragmentation algorithm is the same as that described in Section 18.3.
Routing Header
The Routing header contains a list of one or more intermediate nodes to be visited
on the way to a packet’s destination. All routing headers start with a 32-bit block
consisting of four 8-bit fields, followed by routing data specific to a given routing
type (Figure 18.12c). The four 8-bit fields are as follows:
• Next Header: Identifies the type of header immediately following this header.
• Header Extension Length: Length of this header in 64-bit units, not including
the first 64 bits.
• Routing Type: Identifies a particular Routing header variant. If a router does
not recognize the Routing Type value, it must discard the packet.
• Segments Left: Number of route segments remaining; that is, the number of explic-
itly listed intermediate nodes still to be visited before reaching the final destination.
The only specific routing header format defined in RFC 2460 is the Type 0 Rout-
ing header (Figure 18.12d). When using the Type 0 Routing header, the source node
does not place the ultimate destination address in the IPv6 header. Instead, that address
is the last address listed in the Routing header (Address[n] in Figure 18.12d), and the
IPv6 header contains the destination address of the first desired router on the path. The
Routing header will not be examined until the packet reaches the node identified in the
IPv6 header. At that point, the IPv6 and Routing header contents are updated and the
packet is forwarded. The update consists of placing the next address to be visited in the
IPv6 header and decrementing the Segments Left field in the Routing header.
Destination Options Header
The Destination Options header carries optional information that, if present, is
examined only by the packet’s destination node. The format of this header is the
same as that of the Hop-by-Hop Options header (Figure 18.12a).
596
CHAPTER 18 / INTERNET PROTOCOLS
18.6
VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORKS AND IP SECURITY
In today’s distributed computing environment, the virtual private network (VPN)
offers an attractive solution to network managers. In essence, a VPN consists of a set
of computers that interconnect by means of a relatively unsecure network and that
make use of encryption and special protocols to provide security. At each corporate
site, workstations, servers, and databases are linked by one or more local area net-
works (LANs). The LANs are under the control of the network manager and can be
configured and tuned for cost-effective performance. The Internet or some other pub-
lic network can be used to interconnect sites, providing a cost savings over the use of a
private network and offloading the wide area network management task to the public
network provider. That same public network provides an access path for telecom-
muters and other mobile employees to log on to corporate systems from remote sites.
But the manager faces a fundamental requirement: security. Use of a public
network exposes corporate traffic to eavesdropping and provides an entry point
for unauthorized users. To counter this problem, the manager may choose from a
variety of encryption and authentication packages and products. Proprietary solu-
tions raise a number of problems. First, how secure is the solution? If proprietary
encryption or authentication schemes are used, there may be little reassurance in
the technical literature as to the level of security provided. Second is the question
of compatibility. No manager wants to be limited in the choice of workstations,
servers, routers, firewalls, and so on by a need for compatibility with the security
facility.This is the motivation for the IP Security (IPSec) set of Internet standards.
IPSec
In 1994, the Internet Architecture Board (IAB) issued a report titled “Security in
the Internet Architecture” (RFC 1636). The report stated the general consensus that
the Internet needs more and better security and identified key areas for security
mechanisms. Among these were the need to secure the network infrastructure from
unauthorized monitoring and control of network traffic and the need to secure end-
user-to-end-user traffic using authentication and encryption mechanisms.
To provide security, the IAB included authentication and encryption as neces-
sary security features in the next-generation IP, which has been issued as IPv6. For-
tunately, these security capabilities were designed to be usable both with the current
IPv4 and the future IPv6. This means that vendors can begin offering these features
now, and many vendors do now have some IPSec capability in their products. The
IPSec specification now exists as a set of Internet standards.
Applications of IPSec
IPSec provides the capability to secure communications across a LAN, across private
and public WANs, and across the Internet. Examples of its use include the following:
• Secure branch office connectivity over the Internet: A company can build a
secure virtual private network over the Internet or over a public WAN. This
enables a business to rely heavily on the Internet and reduce its need for
private networks, saving costs and network management overhead.
18.6 / VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORKS AND IP SECURITY
597
• Secure remote access over the Internet: An end user whose system is equipped
with IP security protocols can make a local call to an Internet service provider
(ISP) and gain secure access to a company network. This reduces the cost of
toll charges for traveling employees and telecommuters.
• Establishing extranet and intranet connectivity with partners: IPSec can be
used to secure communication with other organizations, ensuring authentica-
tion and confidentiality and providing a key exchange mechanism.
• Enhancing electronic commerce security: Even though some Web and elec-
tronic commerce applications have built-in security protocols, the use of IPSec
enhances that security. IPSec guarantees that all traffic designated by the net-
work administrator is both encrypted and authenticated, adding an additional
layer of security to whatever is provided at the application layer.
The principal feature of IPSec that enables it to support these varied applica-
tions is that it can encrypt and/or authenticate all traffic at the IP level. Thus, all
distributed applications, including remote logon, client/server, e-mail, file transfer,
Web access, and so on, can be secured.
Figure 18.13 is a typical scenario of IPSec usage. An organization maintains
LANs at dispersed locations. Nonsecure IP traffic is conducted on each LAN. For traf-
fic offsite, through some sort of private or public WAN, IPSec protocols are used.These
protocols operate in networking devices, such as a router or firewall, that connect each
LAN to the outside world. The IPSec networking device will typically encrypt and
compress all traffic going into the WAN, and decrypt and decompress traffic coming
from the WAN; these operations are transparent to workstations and servers on the
LAN. Secure transmission is also possible with individual users who dial into the WAN.
Such user workstations must implement the IPSec protocols to provide security.
Benefits of IPSec
Some of the benefits of IPSec are as follows:
• When IPSec is implemented in a firewall or router, it provides strong security
that can be applied to all traffic crossing the perimeter. Traffic within a com-
pany or workgroup does not incur the overhead of security-related processing.
• IPSec in a firewall is resistant to bypass if all traffic from the outside must use
IP and the firewall is the only means of entrance from the Internet into the
organization.
• IPSec is below the transport layer (TCP, UDP) and so is transparent to appli-
cations.There is no need to change software on a user or server system when
IPSec is implemented in the firewall or router. Even if IPSec is implemented
in end systems, upper-layer software, including applications, is not affected.
• IPSec can be transparent to end users. There is no need to train users on secu-
rity mechanisms, issue keying material on a per-user basis, or revoke keying
material when users leave the organization.
• IPSec can provide security for individual users if needed. This is useful for off-
site workers and for setting up a secure virtual subnetwork within an organi-
zation for sensitive applications.
User system
with IPSec
IP
IPSec
Secure IP
header
header
payload
Public (Internet)
or private
network
Ethernet
Ethernet
switch
switch
IP
IP
IP
IP
header
payload
header
payload
Networking device
Networking device
with IPSec
with IPSec
Figure 18.13
An IP Security Scenario
18.7 / RECOMMENDED READING AND WEB SITES
599
IPSec Functions
IPSec provides three main facilities: an authentication-only function referred to as
Authentication Header
(AH), a combined authentication/encryption function
called Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP), and a key exchange function. For
VPNs, both authentication and encryption are generally desired, because it is
important both to (1) assure that unauthorized users do not penetrate the virtual
private network and (2) assure that eavesdroppers on the Internet cannot read mes-
sages sent over the virtual private network. Because both features are generally
desirable, most implementations are likely to use ESP rather than AH. The key
exchange function allows for manual exchange of keys as well as an automated
scheme.
IPSec is explored in Chapter 21.
18.7 RECOMMENDED READING AND WEB SITES
[RODR02] provides clear coverage of all of the topics in this chapter. Good coverage of
internetworking and IPv4 can be found in [COME06] and [STEV94]. [SHAN02] and
[KENT87] provide useful discussions of fragmentation. [LEE05] is a thorough technical
description IPv6. [KESH98] provides an instructive look at present and future router
functionality. [METZ02] and [DOI94] describe the IPv6 anycast feature. For the reader
interested in a more in-depth discussion of IP addressing, [SPOR03] offers a wealth of
detail.
COME06
Comer, D. Internetworking with TCP/IP, Volume I: Principles, Protocols, and
Architecture. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2006.
DOI04
Doi, S., et al. “IPv6 Anycast for Simple and Effective Communications.” IEEE
Communications Magazine, May 2004.
HUIT98
Huitema, C. IPv6: The New Internet Protocol. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice
Hall, 1998.
KENT87
Kent, C., and Mogul, J. “Fragmentation Considered Harmful.” ACM Computer
Communication Review, October 1987.
KESH98
Keshav, S., and Sharma, R. “Issues and Trends in Router Design.” IEEE Com-
munications Magazine, May 1998.
LEE05
Lee, H. Understanding IPv6. New York: Springer-Verlag, 2005.
METZ02
Metz C. “IP Anycast.” IEEE Internet Computing, March 2002.
RODR02
Rodriguez, A., et al. TCP/IP Tutorial and Technical Overview. Upper Saddle
River: NJ: Prentice Hall, 2002.
SHAN02
Shannon, C.; Moore, D.; and Claffy, K. “Beyond Folklore: Observations on
Fragmented Traffic.” IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking, December 2002.
SPOR03
Sportack, M. IP Addressing Fundamentals. Indianapolis, IN: Cisco Press, 2003.
STEV94
Stevens, W. TCP/IP Illustrated, Volume
1: The Protocols. Reading, MA:
Addison-Wesley, 1994.
600
CHAPTER 18 / INTERNET PROTOCOLS
Recommended Web sites:
• IPv6: Information about IPv6 and related topics.
• IPv6 Working Group: Chartered by IETF to develop standards related to IPv6. The
Web site includes all relevant RFCs and Internet drafts.
• IPv6 Forum: An industry consortium that promotes IPv6-related products. Includes a
number of white papers and articles.
18.8 KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
Key Terms
broadcast
Internet Protocol (IP)
segmentation
datagram lifetime
internetworking
subnet
end system
intranet
subnet mask
fragmentation
IPv4
subnetwork
intermediate system
IPv6
traffic class
Internet
multicast
unicast
Internet Control Message
reassembly
Protocol (ICMP)
router
Review Questions
18.1. Give some reasons for using fragmentation and reassembly.
18.2. List the requirements for an internetworking facility.
18.3. What are the pros and cons of limiting reassembly to the endpoint as compared to
allowing en route reassembly?
18.4. Explain the function of the three flags in the IPv4 header.
18.5. How is the IPv4 header checksum calculated?
18.6. What is the difference between the traffic class and flow label fields in the IPv6 header?
18.7. Briefly explain the three types of IPv6 addresses.
18.8. What is the purpose of each of the IPv6 header types?
Problems
18.1
Although not explicitly stated, the Internet Protocol (IP) specification, RFC 791,
defines the minimum packet size a network technology must support to allow IP to
run over it.
a. Read Section 3.2 of RFC 791 to find out that value. What is it?
b. Discuss the reasons for adopting that specific value.
18.2
In the discussion of IP, it was mentioned that the identifier, don’t fragment identifier,
and time-to-live parameters are present in the Send primitive but not in the Deliver
primitive because they are only of concern to IP. For each of these parameters, indi-
cate whether it is of concern to the IP entity in the source, the IP entities in any inter-
mediate routers, and the IP entity in the destination end systems. Justify your answer.
18.8 / KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
601
18.3
What is the header overhead in the IP protocol?
18.4
Describe some circumstances where it might be desirable to use source routing rather
than let the routers make the routing decision.
18.5
Because of fragmentation, an IP datagram can arrive in several pieces, not necessarily
in the correct order. The IP entity at the receiving end system must accumulate these
fragments until the original datagram is reconstituted.
a. Consider that the IP entity creates a buffer for assembling the data field in the origi-
nal datagram.As assembly proceeds, the buffer will contain blocks of data and “holes”
between the data blocks. Describe an algorithm for reassembly based on this concept.
b. For the algorithm in part (a), it is necessary to keep track of the holes. Describe a
simple mechanism for doing this.
18.6
A 4480-octet datagram is to be transmitted and needs to be fragmented because it
will pass through an Ethernet with a maximum payload of 1500 octets. Show the
Total Length, More Flag, and Fragment Offset values in each of the resulting frag-
ments.
18.7
Consider a header that consists of 10 octets, with the checksum in the last two octets
(this does not correspond to any actual header format) with the following content (in
hexadecimal): 01 00 F6 F7 F4 F5 F2 03 00 00
a. Calculate the checksum. Show your calculation.
b. Show the resulting packet.
c. Verify the checksum.
18.8
The IP checksum needs to be recalculated at routers because of changes to the IP
header, such as the lifetime field. It is possible to recalculate the checksum from
scratch. Suggest a procedure that involves less calculation. Hint: Suppose that the
value in octet k is changed by
consider the effect of this
Z = new_value - old_value;
change on the checksum.
18.9
An IP datagram is to be fragmented. Which options in the option field need to be
copied into the header of each fragment, and which need only be retained in the first
fragment? Justify the handling of each option.
18.10
A transport-layer message consisting of 1500 bits of data and 160 bits of header is sent
to an internet layer, which appends another 160 bits of header. This is then transmit-
ted through two networks, each of which uses a 24-bit packet header. The destination
network has a maximum packet size of 800 bits. How many bits, including headers, are
delivered to the network-layer protocol at the destination?
18.11
The architecture suggested by Figure 18.2 is to be used. What functions could be
added to the routers to alleviate some of the problems caused by the mismatched
local and long-haul networks?
18.12
Should internetworking be concerned with a network’s internal routing? Why or why not?
18.13
Provide the following parameter values for each of the network classes A, B, and C.
Be sure to consider any special or reserved addresses in your calculations.
a. Number of bits in network portion of address
b. Number of bits in host portion of address
c. Number of distinct networks allowed
d. Number of distinct hosts per network allowed
e. Integer range of first octet
18.14
What percentage of the total IP address space does each of the network classes rep-
resent?
18.15
What is the difference between the subnet mask for a Class A address with 16 bits for
the subnet ID and a class B address with 8 bits for the subnet ID?
18.16
Is the subnet mask 255.255.0.255 valid for a Class A address?
18.17
Given a network address of 192.168.100.0 and a subnet mask of 255.255.255.192,
a. How many subnets are created?
b. How many hosts are there per subnet?
602
CHAPTER 18 / INTERNET PROTOCOLS
18.18
Given a company with six individual departments and each department having ten
computers or networked devices, what mask could be applied to the company net-
work to provide the subnetting necessary to divide up the network equally?
18.19
In contemporary routing and addressing, the notation commonly used is called class-
less interdomain routing or CIDR. With CIDR, the number of bits in the mask is indi-
cated in the following fashion: 192.168.100.0/24. This corresponds to a mask of
255.255.255.0. If this example would provide for 256 host addresses on the network,
how many addresses are provided with the following?
a.
192.168.100.0/23
b.
192.168.100.0/25
18.20
Find out about your network. Using the command “ipconfig”, “ifconfig”, or “winipcfg”,
we can learn not only our IP address but other network parameters as well. Can you
determine your mask, gateway, and the number of addresses available on your network?
18.21
Using your IP address and your mask, what is your network address? This is deter-
mined by converting the IP address and the mask to binary and then proceeding with
a bitwise logical AND operation. For example, given the address 172.16.45.0 and the
mask 255.255.224.0, we would discover that the network address would be 172.16.32.0.
18.22
Compare the individual fields of the IPv4 header with the IPv6 header. Account for
the functionality provided by each IPv4 field by showing how the same functionality
is provided in IPv6.
18.23
Justify the recommended order in which IPv6 extension headers appear (i.e., why is
the Hop-by-Hop Options header first, why is the Routing header before the Frag-
ment header, and so on).
18.24
The IPv6 standard states that if a packet with a nonzero flow label arrives at a router
and the router has no information for that flow label, the router should ignore the
flow label and forward the packet.
a. What are the disadvantages of treating this event as an error, discarding the
packet, and sending an ICMP message?
b. Are there situations in which routing the packet as if its flow label were zero will
cause the wrong result? Explain.
18.25
The IPv6 flow mechanism assumes that the state associated with a given flow label is
stored in routers, so they know how to handle packets that carry that flow label. A
design requirement is to flush flow labels that are no longer being used (stale flow
label) from routers.
a. Assume that a source always send a control message to all affected routers delet-
ing a flow label when the source finishes with that flow. In that case, how could a
stale flow label persist?
b. Suggest router and source mechanisms to overcome the problem of stale flow labels.
18.26
The question arises as to which packets generated by a source should carry nonzero
IPv6 flow labels. For some applications, the answer is obvious. Small exchanges of
data should have a zero flow label because it is not worth creating a flow for a few
packets. Real-time flows should have a flow label; such flows are a primary reason
flow labels were created. A more difficult issue is what to do with peers sending large
amounts of best-effort traffic (e.g., TCP connections). Make a case for assigning a
unique flow label to each long-term TCP connection. Make a case for not doing this.
18.27
The original IPv6 specifications combined the Traffic Class and Flow Label fields into
a single 28-bit Flow Label field. This allowed flows to redefine the interpretation of
different values of priority. Suggest reasons why the final specification includes the
Priority field as a distinct field.
18.28
For Type 0 IPv6 routing, specify the algorithm for updating the IPv6 and Routing
headers by intermediate nodes.
CHAPTER19
INTERNETWORK OPERATION
19.1
Multicasting
19.2
Routing Protocols
19.3
Integrated Services Architecture
19.4
Differentiated Services
19.5
Service Level Agreements
19.6
IP Performance Metrics
19.7
Recommended Reading and Web Sites
19.8
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
603
604
CHAPTER 19 / INTERNETWORK OPERATION
She occupied herself with studying a map on the opposite wall because she knew
she would have to change trains at some point.Tottenham Court Road must be that
point, an interchange from the black line to the red.This train would take her there,
was bearing her there rapidly now, and at the station she would follow the signs, for
signs there must be, to the Central Line going westward.
—King Solomon’s Carpet, Barbara Vine (Ruth Rendell)
KEY POINTS
•
The act of sending a packet from a source to multiple destinations is
referred to as multicasting. Multicasting raises design issues in the
areas of addressing and routing.
•
Routing protocols in an internet function in a similar fashion to those
used in packet-switching networks. An internet routing protocol is
used to exchange information about reachability and traffic delays,
allowing each router to construct a next-hop routing table for paths
through the internet. Typically, relatively simple routing protocols are
used between autonomous systems within a larger internet and more
complex routing protocols are used within each autonomous system.
•
The integrated services architecture is a response to the growing vari-
ety and volume of traffic experienced in the Internet and intranets. It
provides a framework for the development of protocols such as RSVP
to handle multimedia/multicast traffic and provides guidance to
router vendors on the development of efficient techniques for han-
dling a varied load.
•
The differentiated services architecture is designed to provide a sim-
ple, easy-to-implement, low-overhead tool to support a range of net-
work services that are differentiated on the basis of performance.
Differentiated services are provided on the basis of a 6-bit label in the
IP header, which classifies traffic in terms of the type of service to be
given by routers for that traffic.
As the Internet and private internets grow in scale, a host of new demands march
steadily into view. Low-volume TELNET conversations are leapfrogged by high-
volume client/server applications. To this has been added more recently the tremen-
dous volume of Web traffic, which is increasingly graphics intensive. Now real-time
voice and video applications add to the burden.
To cope with these demands, it is not enough to increase internet capacity. Sensi-
ble and effective methods for managing the traffic and controlling congestion are
needed. Historically, IP-based internets have been able to provide a simple best-effort
delivery service to all applications using an internet. But the needs of users have
19.1 / MULTICASTING
605
changed.A company may have spent millions of dollars installing an IP-based internet
designed to transport data among LANs but now finds that new real-time, multime-
dia, and multicasting applications are not well supported by such a configuration. The
only networking scheme designed from day one to support both traditional TCP and
UDP traffic and real-time traffic is ATM. However, reliance on ATM means either
constructing a second networking infrastructure for real-time traffic or replacing the
existing IP-based configuration with ATM, both of which are costly alternatives.
Thus, there is a strong need to be able to support a variety of traffic with a vari-
ety of quality-of-service (QoS) requirements, within the TCP/IP architecture. This
chapter looks at the internetwork functions and services designed to meet this need.
We begin this chapter with a discussion of multicasting. Next we explore the
issue of internetwork routing algorithms. Next, we look at the Integrated Services
Architecture (ISA), which provides a framework for current and future internet ser-
vices. Then we examine differentiated services. Finally, we introduce the topics of
service level agreements and IP performance metrics.
Refer to Figure 2.5 to see the position within the TCP/IP suite of the protocols
discussed in this chapter.
19.1
MULTICASTING
Typically, an IP address refers to an individual host on a particular network. IP also
accommodates addresses that refer to a group of hosts on one or more networks.
Such addresses are referred to as multicast addresses, and the act of sending a packet
from a source to the members of a multicast group is referred to as multicasting.
Multicasting has a number of practical applications. For example,
• Multimedia: A number of users “tune in” to a video or audio transmission
from a multimedia source station.
• Teleconferencing: A group of workstations form a multicast group such that a
transmission from any member is received by all other group members.
• Database: All copies of a replicated file or database are updated at the same time.
• Distributed computation: Intermediate results are sent to all participants.
• Real-time workgroup: Files, graphics, and messages are exchanged among
active group members in real time.
Multicasting done within the scope of a single LAN segment is straightfor-
ward. IEEE 802 and other LAN protocols include provision for MAC-level multi-
cast addresses. A packet with a multicast address is transmitted on a LAN segment.
Those stations that are members of the corresponding multicast group recognize the
multicast address and accept the packet. In this case, only a single copy of the packet
is ever transmitted. This technique works because of the broadcast nature of a LAN:
A transmission from any one station is received by all other stations on the LAN.
In an internet environment, multicasting is a far more difficult undertaking. To
see this, consider the configuration of Figure 19.1; a number of LANs are intercon-
nected by routers. Routers connect to each other either over high-speed links or across
a wide area network (network N4). A cost is associated with each link or network in
606
CHAPTER 19 / INTERNETWORK OPERATION
N2
Router A
2
2
L1
L2
B
2
2
D
3
L3
3
4
2
1
1
N1
L4
L5
N3
2
4
6
C
Multicast server
Group member
N4
6
F
E
6
1
1
N5
N6
Group member
Group member
Figure 19.1
Example Configuration
each direction, indicated by the value shown leaving the router for that link or network.
Suppose that the multicast server on network N1 is transmitting packets to a multicast
address that represents the workstations indicated on networks N3, N5, N6. Suppose
that the server does not know the location of the members of the multicast group.Then
one way to assure that the packet is received by all members of the group is to
broadcast a copy of each packet to each network in the configuration, over the least-
cost route for each network. For example, one packet would be addressed to N3 and
would traverse N1, link L3, and N3. Router B is responsible for translating the IP-level
multicast address to a MAC-level multicast address before transmitting the MAC
frame onto N3. Table 19.1 summarizes the number of packets generated on the various
links and networks in order to transmit one packet to a multicast group by this method.
In this table, the source is the multicast server on network N1 in Figure 19.1; the multi-
cast address includes the group members on N3, N5, and N6. Each column in the table
refers to the path taken from the source host to a destination router attached to a par-
ticular destination network. Each row of the table refers to a network or link in the
configuration of Figure 19.1. Each entry in the table gives the number of packets that
19.1 / MULTICASTING
607
Table 19.1
Traffic Generated by Various Multicasting Strategies
(a) Broadcast
(b) Multiple Unicast
(c) Multicast
S : N2 S : N3 S : N5 S : N6
Total
S : N3 S : N5 S : N6
Total
N1
1
1
1
1
4
1
1
1
3
1
N2
N3
1
1
1
1
1
N4
1
1
2
1
1
2
2
N5
1
1
1
1
1
N6
1
1
1
1
1
L1
1
1
L2
L3
1
1
1
1
1
L4
1
1
2
1
1
2
1
L5
Total
2
3
4
4
13
3
4
4
11
8
traverse a given network or link for a given path. A total of 13 copies of the packet are
required for the broadcast technique.
Now suppose the source system knows the location of each member of the
multicast group. That is, the source has a table that maps a multicast address into a
list of networks that contain members of that multicast group. In that case, the
source need only send packets to those networks that contain members of the
group. We could refer to this as the multiple unicast strategy. Table 19.1 shows that
in this case, 11 packets are required.
Both the broadcast and multiple unicast strategies are inefficient because they
generate unnecessary copies of the source packet. In a true multicast strategy, the
following method is used:
1. The least-cost path from the source to each network that includes members of
the multicast group is determined. This results in a spanning tree1 of the config-
uration. Note that this is not a full spanning tree of the configuration. Rather, it
is a spanning tree that includes only those networks containing group members.
2. The source transmits a single packet along the spanning tree.
3. The packet is replicated by routers only at branch points of the spanning tree.
Figure 19.2a shows the spanning tree for transmissions from the source to the
multicast group, and Figure 19.2b shows this method in action. The source transmits a
single packet over N1 to router D. D makes two copies of the packet, to transmit over
1The concept of spanning tree was introduced in our discussion of bridges in Chapter 15. A spanning tree
of a graph consists of all the nodes of the graph plus a subset of the links (edges) of the graph that pro-
vides connectivity (a path exists between any two nodes) with no closed loops (there is only one path
between any two nodes).
608
CHAPTER 19 / INTERNETWORK OPERATION
N2
RA
N1
L1
L2
RB
RD
RD
L3
N3
L4
L3
N1
L4
L5
N3
RC
RC
RB
N4
N4
RE
RF
RE
RF
N5
N6
N5
N6
(a) Spanning tree from source to multicast group
(b) Packets generated for multicast transmission
Figure 19.2
Multicast Transmission Example
links L3 and L4. B receives the packet from L3 and transmits it on N3, where it is read
by members of the multicast group on the network. Meanwhile, C receives the packet
sent on L4. It must now deliver that packet to both E and F. If network N4 were a
broadcast network (e.g., an IEEE 802 LAN), then C would only need to transmit one
instance of the packet for both routers to read. If N4 is a packet-switching WAN, then
C must make two copies of the packet and address one to E and one to F. Each of
these routers, in turn, retransmits the received packet on N5 and N6, respectively. As
Table 19.1 shows, the multicast technique requires only eight copies of the packet.
Requirements for Multicasting
In ordinary unicast transmission over an internet, in which each datagram has a unique
destination network, the task of each router is to forward the datagram along the short-
est path from that router to the destination network. With multicast transmission, the
router may be required to forward two or more copies of an incoming datagram. In our
example, routers D and C both must forward two copies of a single incoming datagram.
Thus, we might expect that the overall functionality of multicast routing is
more complex than unicast routing. The following is a list of required functions:
1. A convention is needed for identifying a multicast address. In IPv4, Class D
addresses are reserved for this purpose. These are 32-bit addresses with 1110 as
their high-order 4 bits, followed by a 28-bit group identifier. In IPv6, a 128-bit
multicast address consists of an 8-bit prefix of all ones, a 4-bit flags field, a 4-bit
scope field, and a 112-bit group identifier. The flags field, currently, only indicates
whether this address is permanently assigned or not. The scope field indicates the
scope of applicability of the address, ranging from a single network to global.
19.1 / MULTICASTING
609
2.
Each node (router or source node participating in the routing algorithm) must
translate between an IP multicast address and a list of networks that contain
members of this group. This information allows the node to construct a short-
est-path spanning tree to all of the networks containing group members.
3.
A router must translate between an IP multicast address and a network multi-
cast address in order to deliver a multicast IP datagram on the destination net-
work. For example, in IEEE 802 networks, a MAC-level address is 48 bits long;
if the highest-order bit is 1, then it is a multicast address. Thus, for multicast
delivery, a router attached to an IEEE 802 network must translate a 32-bit
IPv4 or a 128-bit IPv6 multicast address into a 48-bit IEEE 802 MAC-level
multicast address.
4.
Although some multicast addresses may be assigned permanently, the more
usual case is that multicast addresses are generated dynamically and that indi-
vidual hosts may join and leave multicast groups dynamically. Thus, a mecha-
nism is needed by which an individual host informs routers attached to the
same network as itself of its inclusion in and exclusion from a multicast group.
IGMP, described subsequently, provides this mechanism.
5.
Routers must exchange two sorts of information. First, routers need to know
which networks include members of a given multicast group. Second, routers
need sufficient information to calculate the shortest path to each network con-
taining group members. These requirements imply the need for a multicast
routing protocol. A discussion of such protocols is beyond the scope of this
book.
6.
A routing algorithm is needed to calculate shortest paths to all group members.
7.
Each router must determine multicast routing paths on the basis of both
source and destination addresses.
The last point is a subtle consequence of the use of multicast addresses. To
illustrate the point, consider again Figure 19.1. If the multicast server transmits a
unicast packet addressed to a host on network N5, the packet is forwarded by router
D to C, which then forwards the packet to E. Similarly, a packet addressed to a host
on network N3 is forwarded by D to B. But now suppose that the server transmits a
packet with a multicast address that includes hosts on N3, N5, and N6. As we have
discussed, D makes two copies of the packet and sends one to B and one to C. What
will C do when it receives a packet with such a multicast address? C knows that this
packet is intended for networks N3, N5, and N6. A simple-minded approach would
be for C to calculate the shortest path to each of these three networks. This produces
the shortest-path spanning tree shown in Figure 19.3. As a result, C sends two copies
of the packet out over N4, one intended for N5 and one intended for N6. But it also
sends a copy of the packet to B for delivery on N3. Thus B will receive two copies of
the packet, one from D and one from C. This is clearly not what was intended by the
host on N1 when it launched the packet.
To avoid unnecessary duplication of packets, each router must route packets
on the basis of both source and multicast destination. When C receives a packet
intended for the multicast group from a source on N1, it must calculate the spanning
610
CHAPTER 19 / INTERNETWORK OPERATION
RC
L5
N4
RE
RF
RB
N5
N6
N3
Figure 19.3
Spanning Tree from Router C to Multicast Group
tree with N1 as the root (shown in Figure 19.2a) and route on the basis of that
spanning tree.
Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP)
IGMP, defined in RFC 3376, is used by hosts and routers to exchange multicast
group membership information over a LAN. IGMP takes advantage of the broad-
cast nature of a LAN to provide an efficient technique for the exchange of informa-
tion among multiple hosts and routers. In general, IGMP supports two principal
operations:
1. Hosts send messages to routers to subscribe to and unsubscribe from a multi-
cast group defined by a given multicast address.
2. Routers periodically check which multicast groups are of interest to which hosts.
IGMP is currently at version 3. In IGMPv1, hosts could join a multicast group
and routers used a timer to unsubscribe group members. IGMPv2 enabled a host to
request to be unsubscribed from a group. The first two versions used essentially the
following operational model:
• Receivers have to subscribe to multicast groups.
• Sources do not have to subscribe to multicast groups.
• Any host can send traffic to any multicast group.
This paradigm is very general, but it also has some weaknesses:
1. Spamming of multicast groups is easy. Even if there are application level filters
to drop unwanted packets, still these packets consume valuable resources in
the network and in the receiver that has to process them.
2. Establishment of the multicast distribution trees is problematic. This is mainly
because the location of sources is not known.
19.1 / MULTICASTING
611
3. Finding globally unique multicast addresses is difficult. It is always possible
that another multicast group uses the same multicast address.
IGMPv3 addresses these weaknesses by
1. Allowing hosts to specify the list of hosts from which they want to receive traf-
fic. Traffic from other hosts is blocked at routers.
2. Allowing hosts to block packets that come from sources that send unwanted
traffic.
The remainder of this section discusses IGMPv3.
IGMP Message Format All IGMP messages are transmitted in IP datagrams.
The current version defines two message types: Membership Query and Member-
ship Report.
A Membership Query message is sent by a multicast router. There are three
subtypes: a general query, used to learn which groups have members on an attached
network; a group-specific query, used to learn if a particular group has any members
on an attached network; and a group-and-source-specific query, used to learn if any
attached device desires reception of packets sent to a specified multicast address,
from any of a specified list of sources. Figure 19.4a shows the message format, which
consists of the following fields:
•
Type: Defines this message type.
•
Max Response Code: Indicates the maximum allowed time before sending a
responding report in units of 1/10 second.
•
Checksum: An error-detecting code, calculated as the 16-bit ones complement
addition of all the 16-bit words in the message. For purposes of computation,
the Checksum field is itself initialized to a value of zero. This is the same
checksum algorithm used in IPv4.
•
Group Address: Zero for a general query message; a valid IP multicast group
address when sending a group-specific query or group-and-source-specific
query.
•
S Flag: When set to one, indicates to any receiving multicast routers that they
are to suppress the normal timer updates they perform upon hearing a query.
•
QRV (querier’s robustness variable): If nonzero, the QRV field contains the
RV value used by the querier (i.e., the sender of the query). Routers adopt the
RV value from the most recently received query as their own RV value, unless
that most recently received RV was zero, in which case the receivers use the
default value or a statically configured value. The RV dictates how many times
a host will retransmit a report to assure that it is not missed by any attached
multicast routers.
•
QQIC (querier’s querier interval code): Specifies the QI value used by the
querier, which is a timer for sending multiple queries. Multicast routers that
are not the current querier adopt the QI value from the most recently received
query as their own QI value, unless that most recently received QI was zero, in
which case the receiving routers use the default QI value.
612
CHAPTER 19 / INTERNETWORK OPERATION
Bit:
0
4
8
16
31
Type
17
Max resp code
Checksum
Group address (class D IPv4 address)
Resv
S
QRV
QQIC
Number of sources (N)
Source address [1]
Source address [2]
Source address [N]
(a) Membership query message
Bit:
0
4
8
16
31
Type
34
Reserved
Checksum
Reserved
Number of group records (M)
Group record [1]
Group record [2]
Group record [M]
(b) Membership report message
Bit:
0
4
8
16
31
Record type
Aux data len
Number of sources (N)
Multicast address
Source address [1]
Source address [2]
Source address [N]
Auxiliary data
(c) Group record
Figure 19.4
IGMPv3 Message Formats
19.1 / MULTICASTING
613
•
Number of Sources: Specifies how many source addresses are present in this
query. This value is nonzero only for a group-and-source-specific query.
•
Source Addresses: If the number of sources is N, then there are N 32-bit uni-
cast addresses appended to the message.
A Membership Report message consists of the following fields:
•
Type: Defines this message type.
•
Checksum: An error-detecting code, calculated as the 16-bit ones complement
addition of all the 16-bit words in the message.
•
Number of Group Records: Specifies how many group records are present in
this report.
•
Group Records: If the number of group records is M, then there are M 32-bit
unicast group records appended to the message.
A group record includes the following fields:
•
Record Type: Defines this record type, as described subsequently.
•
Aux Data Length: Length of the auxiliary data field, in 32-bit words.
•
Number of Sources: Specifies how many source addresses are present in this
record.
•
Multicast Address: The IP multicast address to which this record pertains.
•
Source Addresses: If the number of sources is N, then there are N 32-bit uni-
cast addresses appended to the message.
•
Auxiliary Data: Additional information pertaining to this record. Currently,
no auxiliary data values are defined.
IGMP Operation The objective of each host in using IGMP is to make itself
known as a member of a group with a given multicast address to other hosts on the
LAN and to all routers on the LAN. IGMPv3 introduces the ability for hosts to sig-
nal group membership with filtering capabilities with respect to sources. A host can
either signal that it wants to receive traffic from all sources sending to a group
except for some specific sources (called EXCLUDE mode) or that it wants to
receive traffic only from some specific sources sending to the group
(called
INCLUDE mode). To join a group, a host sends an IGMP membership report mes-
sage, in which the group address field is the multicast address of the group. This mes-
sage is sent in an IP datagram with the same multicast destination address. In other
words, the Group Address field of the IGMP message and the Destination Address
field of the encapsulating IP header are the same. All hosts that are currently mem-
bers of this multicast group will receive the message and learn of the new group
member. Each router attached to the LAN must listen to all IP multicast addresses
in order to hear all reports.
To maintain a valid current list of active group addresses, a multicast router
periodically issues an IGMP general query message, sent in an IP datagram with an
all-hosts multicast address. Each host that still wishes to remain a member of one or
more multicast groups must read datagrams with the all-hosts address. When such a
614
CHAPTER 19 / INTERNETWORK OPERATION
host receives the query, it must respond with a report message for each group to
which it claims membership.
Note that the multicast router does not need to know the identity of every host in
a group. Rather, it needs to know that there is at least one group member still active.
Therefore, each host in a group that receives a query sets a timer with a random delay.
Any host that hears another host claim membership in the group will cancel its own
report. If no other report is heard and the timer expires, a host sends a report. With this
scheme, only one member of each group should provide a report to the multicast router.
When a host leaves a group, it sends a leave group message to the all-routers
static multicast address. This is accomplished by sending a membership report mes-
sage with the INCLUDE option and a null list of source addresses; that is, no
sources are to be included, effectively leaving the group. When a router receives
such a message for a group that has group members on the reception interface, it
needs to determine if there are any remaining group members. For this purpose, the
router uses the group-specific query message.
Group Membership with IPv6 IGMP was defined for operation with IPv4
and makes use of 32-bit addresses. IPv6 internets need this same functionality.
Rather than to define a separate version of IGMP for IPv6, its functions have
been incorporated into the new version of the Internet Control Message Protocol
(ICMPv6). ICMPv6 includes all of the functionality of ICMPv4 and IGMP. For
multicast support, ICMPv6 includes both a group-membership query and a group-
membership report message, which are used in the same fashion as in IGMP.
19.2 ROUTING PROTOCOLS
The routers in an internet are responsible for receiving and forwarding packets
through the interconnected set of networks. Each router makes routing decision
based on knowledge of the topology and traffic/delay conditions of the internet. In a
simple internet, a fixed routing scheme is possible. In more complex internets, a
degree of dynamic cooperation is needed among the routers. In particular, the router
must avoid portions of the network that have failed and should avoid portions of the
network that are congested. To make such dynamic routing decisions, routers
exchange routing information using a special routing protocol for that purpose.
Information is needed about the status of the internet, in terms of which networks
can be reached by which routes, and the delay characteristics of various routes.
In considering the routing function, it is important to distinguish two concepts:
• Routing information: Information about the topology and delays of the internet
• Routing algorithm: The algorithm used to make a routing decision for a par-
ticular datagram, based on current routing information
Autonomous Systems
To proceed with our discussion of routing protocols, we need to introduce the con-
cept of an autonomous system. An autonomous system (AS) exhibits the following
characteristics:
19.2 / ROUTING PROTOCOLS
615
1. An AS is a set of routers and networks managed by a single organization.
2. An AS consists of a group of routers exchanging information via a common rout-
ing protocol.
3. Except in times of failure, an AS is connected (in a graph-theoretic sense); that
is, there is a path between any pair of nodes.
A shared routing protocol, which we shall refer to as an interior router pro-
tocol (IRP), passes routing information between routers within an AS. The proto-
col used within the AS does not need to be implemented outside of the system.
This flexibility allows IRPs to be custom tailored to specific applications and
requirements.
It may happen, however, that an internet will be constructed of more than one
AS. For example, all of the LANs at a site, such as an office complex or campus,
could be linked by routers to form an AS. This system might be linked through a
wide area network to other ASs. The situation is illustrated in Figure 19.5. In this
case, the routing algorithms and information in routing tables used by routers in dif-
ferent ASs may differ. Nevertheless, the routers in one AS need at least a minimal
level of information concerning networks outside the system that can be reached.
Subnetwork
Subnetwork
2.1
1.2
R6
R3
R2
R5
Subnetwork
Subnetwork
1.1
2.2
Subnetwork
1.3
R7
R1
R4
R8
Subnetwork
Subnetwork
2.4
1.4
Subnetwork
2.3
Autonomous system 1
Autonomous system 2
Interior router protocol
Exterior router protocol
Figure 19.5
Application of Exterior and Interior Routing Protocols
616
CHAPTER 19 / INTERNETWORK OPERATION
We refer to the protocol used to pass routing information between routers in differ-
ent ASs as an exterior router protocol (ERP).2
We can expect that an ERP will need to pass less information than an IRP, for
the following reason. If a datagram is to be transferred from a host in one AS to a
host in another AS, a router in the first system need only determine the target AS
and devise a route to get into that target system. Once the datagram enters the tar-
get AS, the routers within that system can cooperate to deliver the datagram; the
ERP is not concerned with, and does not know about, the details of the route fol-
lowed within the target AS.
In the remainder of this section, we look at what are perhaps the most impor-
tant examples of these two types of routing protocols: BGP and OSPF. But first, it is
useful to look at a different way of characterizing routing protocols.
Approaches to Routing
Internet routing protocols employ one of three approaches to gathering and using
routing information: distance-vector routing, link-state routing, and path-vector
routing.
Distance-vector routing requires that each node (router or host that imple-
ments the routing protocol) exchange information with its neighboring nodes. Two
nodes are said to be neighbors if they are both directly connected to the same net-
work. This approach is that used in the first generation routing algorithm for
ARPANET, as described in Section 12.2. For this purpose, each node maintains a
vector of link costs for each directly attached network and distance and next-hop
vectors for each destination. The relatively simple Routing Information Protocol
(RIP) uses this approach.
Distance-vector routing requires the transmission of a considerable amount of
information by each router. Each router must send a distance vector to all of its
neighbors, and that vector contains the estimated path cost to all networks in the
configuration. Furthermore, when there is a significant change in a link cost or when
a link is unavailable, it may take a considerable amount of time for this information
to propagate through the internet.
Link-state routing is designed to overcome the drawbacks of distance-vector
routing. When a router is initialized, it determines the link cost on each of its net-
work interfaces.The router then advertises this set of link costs to all other routers
in the internet topology, not just neighboring routers. From then on, the router
monitors its link costs.Whenever there is a significant change (a link cost increases
or decreases substantially, a new link is created, an existing link becomes unavail-
able), the router again advertises its set of link costs to all other routers in the con-
figuration.
Because each router receives the link costs of all routers in the configuration,
each router can construct the topology of the entire configuration and then calcu-
late the shortest path to each destination network. Having done this, the router can
construct its routing table, listing the first hop to each destination. Because the
2In the literature, the terms interior gateway protocol (IGP) and exterior gateway protocol (EGP) are
often used for what are referred to here as IRP and ERP. However, because the terms IGP and EGP also
refer to specific protocols, we avoid their use to define the general concepts.
19.2 / ROUTING PROTOCOLS
617
router has a representation of the entire network, it does not use a distributed ver-
sion of a routing algorithm, as is done in distance-vector routing. Rather, the router
can use any routing algorithm to determine the shortest paths. In practice, Dijkstra’s
algorithm is used. The Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) protocol is an example of a
routing protocol that uses link-state routing. The second-generation routing algo-
rithm for ARPANET also uses this approach.
Both link-state and distance-vector approaches have been used for interior
router protocols. Neither approach is effective for an exterior router protocol.
In a distance-vector routing protocol, each router advertises to its neighbors a
vector listing each network it can reach, together with a distance metric associated
with the path to that network. Each router builds up a routing database on the basis
of these neighbor updates but does not know the identity of intermediate routers
and networks on any particular path. There are two problems with this approach for
an exterior router protocol:
1. This distance-vector protocol assumes that all routers share a common dis-
tance metric with which to judge router preferences. This may not be the case
among different ASs. If different routers attach different meanings to a given
metric, it may not be possible to create stable, loop-free routes.
2. A given AS may have different priorities from other ASs and may have
restrictions that prohibit the use of certain other AS. A distance-vector algo-
rithm gives no information about the ASs that will be visited along a route.
In a link-state routing protocol, each router advertises its link metrics to all
other routers. Each router builds up a picture of the complete topology of the con-
figuration and then performs a routing calculation. This approach also has problems
if used in an exterior router protocol:
1. Different ASs may use different metrics and have different restrictions.
Although the link-state protocol does allow a router to build up a picture of
the entire topology, the metrics used may vary from one AS to another, mak-
ing it impossible to perform a consistent routing algorithm.
2. The flooding of link state information to all routers implementing an exterior
router protocol across multiple ASs may be unmanageable.
An alternative, known as path-vector routing, is to dispense with routing met-
rics and simply provide information about which networks can be reached by a given
router and the ASs that must be crossed to get there. The approach differs from a
distance-vector algorithm in two respects: First, the path-vector approach does not
include a distance or cost estimate. Second, each block of routing information lists all
of the ASs visited in order to reach the destination network by this route.
Because a path vector lists the ASs that a datagram must traverse if it follows
this route, the path information enables a router to perform policy routing. That is, a
router may decide to avoid a particular path in order to avoid transiting a particular
AS. For example, information that is confidential may be limited to certain kinds of
ASs. Or a router may have information about the performance or quality of the por-
tion of the internet that is included in an AS that leads the router to avoid that AS.
Examples of performance or quality metrics include link speed, capacity, tendency
618
CHAPTER 19 / INTERNETWORK OPERATION
Table 19.2
BGP-4 Messages
Open
Used to open a neighbor relationship with another router.
Update
Used to (1) transmit information about a single route and/or (2) list
multiple routes to be withdrawn.
Keepalive
Used to (1) acknowledge an Open message and (2) periodically confirm
the neighbor relationship.
Notification
Send when an error condition is detected.
to become congested, and overall quality of operation. Another criterion that could
be used is minimizing the number of transit ASs.
Border Gateway Protocol
The Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) was developed for use in conjunction with
internets that employ the TCP/IP suite, although the concepts are applicable to any
internet. BGP has become the preferred exterior router protocol for the Internet.
Functions BGP was designed to allow routers, called gateways in the standard, in
different autonomous systems (ASs) to cooperate in the exchange of routing infor-
mation. The protocol operates in terms of messages, which are sent over TCP con-
nections. The repertoire of messages is summarized in Table 19.2. The current
version of BGP is known as BGP-4 (RFC 1771).
Three functional procedures are involved in BGP:
• Neighbor acquisition
• Neighbor reachability
• Network reachability
Two routers are considered to be neighbors if they are attached to the same
network. If the two routers are in different autonomous systems, they may wish to
exchange routing information. For this purpose, it is necessary first to perform
neighbor acquisition. In essence, neighbor acquisition occurs when two neighboring
routers in different autonomous systems agree to exchange routing information reg-
ularly. A formal acquisition procedure is needed because one of the routers may not
wish to participate. For example, the router may be overburdened and does not want
to be responsible for traffic coming in from outside the system. In the neighbor acqui-
sition process, one router sends a request message to the other, which may either
accept or refuse the offer. The protocol does not address the issue of how one router
knows the address or even the existence of another router, nor how it decides that it
needs to exchange routing information with that particular router. These issues must
be dealt with at configuration time or by active intervention of a network manager.
To perform neighbor acquisition, two routers send Open messages to each
other after a TCP connection is established. If each router accepts the request, it
returns a Keepalive message in response.
Once a neighbor relationship is established, the neighbor reachability proce-
dure is used to maintain the relationship. Each partner needs to be assured that the
other partner still exists and is still engaged in the neighbor relationship. For this
purpose, the two routers periodically issue Keepalive messages to each other.
19.2 / ROUTING PROTOCOLS
619
The final procedure specified by BGP is network reachability. Each router
maintains a database of the networks that it can reach and the preferred route for
reaching each network. When a change is made to this database, the router issues an
Update message that is broadcast to all other routers implementing BGP. Because
the Update message is broadcast, all BGP routers can build up and maintain their
routing information.
BGP Messages Figure 19.6 illustrates the formats of all of the BGP messages.
Each message begins with a 19-octet header containing three fields, as indicated by
the shaded portion of each message in the figure:
Octets
Octets
16
Marker
16
Marker
2
Length
2
Length
1
Type
1
Type
1
Version
Unfeasible routes
2
My autonomous
length
2
system
Variable
Withdrawn routes
2
Hold time
Total path
2
attributes length
4
BGP identifier
Variable
Path attributes
1
Opt parameter length
Network layer
Variable
Optional parameters
Variable
reachability
information
(a) Open message
(b) Update message
Octets
Octets
16
Marker
16
Marker
2
Length
2
Length
1
Type
1
Type
1
Error code
(c) Keepalive message
1
Error subcode
Variable
Data
(d) Notification message
Figure 19.6
BGP Message Formats
620
CHAPTER 19 / INTERNETWORK OPERATION
• Marker: Reserved for authentication. The sender may insert a value in this
field that would be used as part of an authentication mechanism to enable the
recipient to verify the identity of the sender.
• Length: Length of message in octets.
• Type: Type of message: Open, Update, Notification, Keepalive.
To acquire a neighbor, a router first opens a TCP connection to the neighbor
router of interest. It then sends an Open message. This message identifies the AS to
which the sender belongs and provides the IP address of the router. It also includes
a Hold Time parameter, which indicates the number of seconds that the sender pro-
poses for the value of the Hold Timer. If the recipient is prepared to open a neigh-
bor relationship, it calculates a value of Hold Timer that is the minimum of its Hold
Time and the Hold Time in the Open message. This calculated value is the maximum
number of seconds that may elapse between the receipt of successive Keepalive
and/or Update messages by the sender.
The Keepalive message consists simply of the header. Each router issues these
messages to each of its peers often enough to prevent the Hold Timer from expiring.
The Update message communicates two types of information:
• Information about a single route through the internet. This information is
available to be added to the database of any recipient router.
• A list of routes previously advertised by this router that are being withdrawn.
An Update message may contain one or both types of information. Informa-
tion about a single route through the network involves three fields: the Network
Layer Reachability Information (NLRI) field, the Total Path Attributes Length
field, and the Path Attributes field. The NLRI field consists of a list of identifiers of
networks that can be reached by this route. Each network is identified by its IP
address, which is actually a portion of a full IP address. Recall that an IP address is a
32-bit quantity of the form
The left-hand or prefix portion of this
5network, host6.
quantity identifies a particular network.
The Path Attributes field contains a list of attributes that apply to this particu-
lar route. The following are the defined attributes:
• Origin: Indicates whether this information was generated by an interior router
protocol (e.g., OSPF) or an exterior router protocol (in particular, BGP).
• AS_Path: A list of the ASs that are traversed for this route.
• Next_Hop: The IP address of the border router that should be used as the next
hop to the destinations listed in the NLRI field.
• Multi_Exit_Disc: Used to communicate some information about routes inter-
nal to an AS. This is described later in this section.
• Local_Pref : Used by a router to inform other routers within the same AS of its
degree of preference for a particular route. It has no significance to routers in
other ASs.
• Atomic_Aggregate, Aggregator: These two fields implement the concept of
route aggregation. In essence, an internet and its corresponding address space
can be organized hierarchically (i.e., as a tree). In this case, network addresses
19.2 / ROUTING PROTOCOLS
621
are structured in two or more parts. All of the networks of a given subtree
share a common partial internet address. Using this common partial address,
the amount of information that must be communicated in NLRI can be signif-
icantly reduced.
The AS_Path attribute actually serves two purposes. Because it lists the ASs that
a datagram must traverse if it follows this route, the AS_Path information enables a
router to implement routing policies. That is, a router may decide to avoid a particular
path to avoid transiting a particular AS. For example, information that is confidential
may be limited to certain kinds of ASs. Or a router may have information about the
performance or quality of the portion of the internet that is included in an AS that
leads the router to avoid that AS. Examples of performance or quality metrics include
link speed, capacity, tendency to become congested, and overall quality of operation.
Another criterion that could be used is minimizing the number of transit ASs.
The reader may wonder about the purpose of the Next_Hop attribute. The
requesting router will necessarily want to know which networks are reachable via
the responding router, but why provide information about other routers? This is
best explained with reference to Figure
19.5. In this example, router R1 in
autonomous system 1 and router R5 in autonomous system 2 implement BGP and
acquire a neighbor relationship. R1 issues Update messages to R5, indicating which
networks it can reach and the distances (network hops) involved. R1 also provides
the same information on behalf of R2. That is, R1 tells R5 what networks are reach-
able via R2. In this example, R2 does not implement BGP. Typically, most of the
routers in an autonomous system will not implement BGP. Only a few routers will
be assigned responsibility for communicating with routers in other autonomous sys-
tems. A final point: R1 is in possession of the necessary information about R2,
because R1 and R2 share an interior router protocol (IRP).
The second type of update information is the withdrawal of one or more routes.
In this case, the route is identified by the IP address of the destination network.
Finally, the Notification Message is sent when an error condition is detected.
The following errors may be reported:
• Message header error: Includes authentication and syntax errors.
• Open message error: Includes syntax errors and options not recognized in an
Open message. This message can also be used to indicate that a proposed Hold
Time in an Open message is unacceptable.
• Update message error: Includes syntax and validity errors in an Update message.
• Hold timer expired: If the sending router has not received successive
Keepalive and/or Update and/or Notification messages within the Hold Time
period, then this error is communicated and the connection is closed.
• Finite state machine error: Includes any procedural error.
• Cease: Used by a router to close a connection with another router in the
absence of any other error.
BGP Routing Information Exchange The essence of BGP is the exchange
of routing information among participating routers in multiple ASs. This process can
be quite complex. In what follows, we provide a simplified overview.
622
CHAPTER 19 / INTERNETWORK OPERATION
Let us consider router R1 in autonomous system 1 (AS1), in Figure 19.5. To
begin, a router that implements BGP will also implement an internal routing proto-
col such as OSPF. Using OSPF, R1 can exchange routing information with other
routers within AS1 and build up a picture of the topology of the networks and
routers in AS1 and construct a routing table. Next, R1 can issue an Update message
to R5 in AS2. The Update message could include the following:
• AS_Path: The identity of AS1
• Next_Hop: The IP address of R1
• NLRI: A list of all of the networks in AS1
This message informs R5 that all of the networks listed in NLRI are reachable
via R1 and that the only autonomous system traversed is AS1.
Suppose now that R5 also has a neighbor relationship with another router
in another autonomous system, say R9 in AS3. R5 will forward the information
just received from R1 to R9 in a new Update message. This message includes the
following:
• AS_Path: The list of identifiers
5AS2, AS16
• Next_Hop: The IP address of R5
• NLRI: A list of all of the networks in AS1
This message informs R9 that all of the networks listed in NLRI are reachable
via R5 and that the autonomous systems traversed are AS2 and AS1. R9 must now
decide if this is its preferred route to the networks listed. It may have knowledge of
an alternate route to some or all of these networks that it prefers for reasons of per-
formance or some other policy metric. If R9 decides that the route provided in R5’s
update message is preferable, then R9 incorporates that routing information into its
routing database and forwards this new routing information to other neighbors. This
new message will include an AS_Path field of
5AS3, AS2, AS16.
In this fashion, routing update information is propagated through the larger
internet, consisting of a number of interconnected autonomous systems. The
AS_Path field is used to assure that such messages do not circulate indefinitely: If
an Update message is received by a router in an AS that is included in the
AS_Path field, that router will not forward the update information to other
routers.
Routers within the same AS, called internal neighbors, may exchange BGP
information. In this case, the sending router does not add the identifier of the com-
mon AS to the AS_Path field. When a router has selected a preferred route to an
external destination, it transmits this route to all of its internal neighbors. Each of
these routers then decides if the new route is preferred, in which case the new route
is added to its database and a new Update message goes out.
When there are multiple entry points into an AS that are available to a bor-
der router in another AS, the Multi_Exit_Disc attribute may be used to choose
among them. This attribute contains a number that reflects some internal metric
for reaching destinations within an AS. For example, suppose in Figure 19.5 that
both R1 and R2 implement BGP and both have a neighbor relationship with R5.
Each provides an Update message to R5 for network 1.3 that includes a routing
19.2 / ROUTING PROTOCOLS
623
metric used internal to AS1, such as a routing metric associated with the OSPF
internal router protocol. R5 could then use these two metrics as the basis for choos-
ing between the two routes.
Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) Protocol
The OSPF protocol (RFC 2328) is now widely used as the interior router protocol in
TCP/IP networks. OSPF computes a route through the internet that incurs the least
cost based on a user-configurable metric of cost. The user can configure the cost to
express a function of delay, data rate, dollar cost, or other factors. OSPF is able to
equalize loads over multiple equal-cost paths.
Each router maintains a database that reflects the known topology of the
autonomous system of which it is a part. The topology is expressed as a directed
graph. The graph consists of the following:
• Vertices, or nodes, of two types:
1. router
2. network, which is in turn of two types
a. transit, if it can carry data that neither originate nor terminate on an end
system attached to this network
b. stub, if it is not a transit network
• Edges of two types:
1. graph edges that connect two router vertices when the corresponding
routers are connected to each other by a direct point-to-point link
2. graph edges that connect a router vertex to a network vertex when the
router is directly connected to the network
Figure 19.7, based on one in RFC 2328, shows an example of an autonomous
system, and Figure 19.8 is the resulting directed graph. The mapping is straight-
forward:
• Two routers joined by a point-to-point link are represented in the graph as being
directly connected by a pair of edges, one in each direction (e.g., routers 6 and 10).
• When multiple routers are attached to a network (such as a LAN or packet-
switching network), the directed graph shows all routers bidirectionally con-
nected to the network vertex (e.g., routers 1, 2, 3, and 4 all connect to
network 3).
• If a single router is attached to a network, the network will appear in the graph
as a stub connection (e.g., network 7).
• An end system, called a host, can be directly connected to a router, in which
case it is depicted in the corresponding graph (e.g., host 1).
• If a router is connected to other autonomous systems, then the path cost to
each network in the other system must be obtained by some exterior router
protocol (ERP). Each such network is represented on the graph by a stub
and an edge to the router with the known path cost (e.g., networks 12
through 15).
624
CHAPTER 19 / INTERNETWORK OPERATION
N12
N13
N14
N1
8
3
1
8
R4
8
R1
1
8
8
N3
R5
7
6
1
1
R3
3
8
N2
6
6
R6
N12
R2
2
6
7
2
R7
N4
9
1
N15
N11
5
1
R10
N6
3
R9
3
1
1
R11
R8
2
N8
1
N9
4
N7
1
10
2
N10
R12
H1
Figure 19.7
A Sample Autonomous System
A cost is associated with the output side of each router interface. This cost is
configurable by the system administrator. Arcs on the graph are labeled with the
cost of the corresponding router output interface. Arcs having no labeled cost have
a cost of 0. Note that arcs leading from networks to routers always have a cost of 0.
A database corresponding to the directed graph is maintained by each router.
It is pieced together from link state messages from other routers in the internet.
Using Dijkstra’s algorithm (see Section 12.3), a router calculates the least-cost path
to all destination networks. The result for router 6 of Figure 19.7 is shown as a tree in
Figure 19.9, with R6 as the root of the tree. The tree gives the entire route to any des-
tination network or host. However, only the next hop to the destination is used in the
forwarding process. The resulting routing table for router 6 is shown in Table 19.3.
The table includes entries for routers advertising external routes (routers 5 and 7).
For external networks whose identity is known, entries are also provided.
19.3 / INTEGRATED SERVICES ARCHITECTURE
625
N12
N13 N14
N1
R1
3
8
1
8
8
N3
R4
8
R5
1
1
8
7
1
3
6
R3
8
7
6
N2
R2
2
6
R6
N12
6
2
N11
N4
5
R7
9
7
N15
1
3
1
R10
N6
R9
3
1
1
R11
2
R8
N9
N8
1
4
1
H1
N10
N7
10
2
R12
Figure 19.8
Directed Graph of Autonomous System of Figure 19.7
19.3 INTEGRATED SERVICES ARCHITECTURE
To meet the requirement for QoS-based service, the IETF is developing a suite of
standards under the general umbrella of the Integrated Services Architecture
(ISA). ISA, intended to provide QoS transport over IP-based internets, is defined in
overall terms in RFC 1633, while a number of other documents are being developed
to fill in the details. Already, a number of vendors have implemented portions of the
ISA in routers and end-system software.
This section provides an overview of ISA.
Internet Traffic
Traffic on a network or internet can be divided into two broad categories: elastic
and inelastic. A consideration of their differing requirements clarifies the need for
an enhanced internet architecture.
Elastic Traffic Elastic traffic is that which can adjust, over wide ranges, to changes
in delay and throughput across an internet and still meet the needs of its applica-
tions. This is the traditional type of traffic supported on TCP/IP-based internets and
626
CHAPTER 19 / INTERNETWORK OPERATION
N12
N13
N14
N1
R1
3
8
8
8
N3
R4
R5
1
6
3
R3
N2
R2
6
R6
2
N12
2
N11
N4
R7
9
7
N15
3
1
R10
N6
R9
3
R11
R8
N9
N8
1
4
H1
N10
N7
10
2
R12
Figure 19.9
The SPF Tree for Router R6
is the type of traffic for which internets were designed. Applications that generate
such traffic typically use TCP or UDP as a transport protocol. In the case of UDP,
the application will use as much capacity as is available up to the rate that the appli-
cation generates data. In the case of TCP, the application will use as much capacity
as is available up to the maximum rate that the end-to-end receiver can accept data.
Also with TCP, traffic on individual connections adjusts to congestion by reducing
the rate at which data are presented to the network; this is described in Chapter 20.
Applications that can be classified as elastic include the common applications
that operate over TCP or UDP, including file transfer (FTP), electronic mail
(SMTP), remote login (TELNET), network management (SNMP), and Web access
(HTTP). However, there are differences among the requirements of these applica-
tions. For example,
• E-mail is generally insensitive to changes in delay.
• When file transfer is done interactively, as it frequently is, the user expects the
delay to be proportional to the file size and so is sensitive to changes in
throughput.
• With network management, delay is generally not a serious concern. How-
ever, if failures in an internet are the cause of congestion, then the need for
19.3 / INTEGRATED SERVICES ARCHITECTURE
627
Table 19.3
Routing Table for R6
Destination
Next Hop
Distance
N1
R3
10
N2
R3
10
N3
R3
7
N4
R3
8
N6
R10
8
N7
R10
12
N8
R10
10
N9
R10
11
N10
R10
13
N11
R10
14
H1
R10
21
R5
R5
6
R7
R10
8
N12
R10
10
N13
R5
14
N14
R5
14
N15
R10
17
SNMP messages to get through with minimum delay increases with increased
congestion.
• Interactive applications, such as remote logon and Web access, are sensitive to
delay.
It is important to realize that it is not per-packet delay that is the quantity of
interest. As noted in [CLAR95], observation of real delays across the Internet sug-
gest that wide variations in delay do not occur. Because of the congestion control
mechanisms in TCP, when congestion develops, delays only increase modestly before
the arrival rate from the various TCP connections slow down. Instead, the QoS per-
ceived by the user relates to the total elapsed time to transfer an element of the cur-
rent application. For an interactive TELNET-based application, the element may be
a single keystroke or single line. For a Web access, the element is a Web page, which
could be as little as a few kilobytes or could be substantially larger for an image-rich
page. For a scientific application, the element could be many megabytes of data.
For very small elements, the total elapsed time is dominated by the delay time
across the internet. However, for larger elements, the total elapsed time is dictated by
the sliding-window performance of TCP and is therefore dominated by the throughput
achieved over the TCP connection.Thus, for large transfers, the transfer time is propor-
tional to the size of the file and the degree to which the source slows due to congestion.
It should be clear that even if we confine our attention to elastic traffic, a QoS-
based internet service could be of benefit. Without such a service, routers are dealing
evenhandedly with arriving IP packets, with no concern for the type of application
and whether a particular packet is part of a large transfer element or a small one.
628
CHAPTER 19 / INTERNETWORK OPERATION
Under such circumstances, and if congestion develops, it is unlikely that resources
will be allocated in such a way as to meet the needs of all applications fairly. When
inelastic traffic is added to the mix, the results are even more unsatisfactory.
Inelastic Traffic Inelastic traffic does not easily adapt, if at all, to changes in delay
and throughput across an internet. The prime example is real-time traffic. The
requirements for inelastic traffic may include the following:
• Throughput: A minimum throughput value may be required.Unlike most elas-
tic traffic, which can continue to deliver data with perhaps degraded service,
many inelastic applications absolutely require a given minimum throughput.
• Delay: An example of a delay-sensitive application is stock trading; someone
who consistently receives later service will consistently act later, and with
greater disadvantage.
• Jitter: The magnitude of delay variation, called jitter, is a critical factor in real-
time applications. Because of the variable delay imposed by the Internet, the
interarrival times between packets are not maintained at a fixed interval at the
destination. To compensate for this, the incoming packets are buffered, delayed
sufficiently to compensate for the jitter, and then released at a constant rate to
the software that is expecting a steady real-time stream.The larger the allowable
delay variation, the longer the real delay in delivering the data and the greater
the size of the delay buffer required at receivers. Real-time interactive applica-
tions, such as teleconferencing, may require a reasonable upper bound on jitter.
• Packet loss: Real-time applications vary in the amount of packet loss, if any,
that they can sustain.
These requirements are difficult to meet in an environment with variable queu-
ing delays and congestion losses. Accordingly, inelastic traffic introduces two new
requirements into the internet architecture. First, some means is needed to give pref-
erential treatment to applications with more demanding requirements. Applications
need to be able to state their requirements, either ahead of time in some sort of service
request function, or on the fly, by means of fields in the IP packet header. The former
approach provides more flexibility in stating requirements, and it enables the network
to anticipate demands and deny new requests if the required resources are unavail-
able. This approach implies the use of some sort of resource reservation protocol.
A second requirement in supporting inelastic traffic in an internet architecture
is that elastic traffic must still be supported. Inelastic applications typically do not
back off and reduce demand in the face of congestion, in contrast to TCP-based
applications. Therefore, in times of congestion, inelastic traffic will continue to sup-
ply a high load, and elastic traffic will be crowded off the internet. A reservation
protocol can help control this situation by denying service requests that would leave
too few resources available to handle current elastic traffic.
ISA Approach
The purpose of ISA is to enable the provision of QoS support over IP-based inter-
nets. The central design issue for ISA is how to share the available capacity in times
of congestion.
19.3 / INTEGRATED SERVICES ARCHITECTURE
629
For an IP-based internet that provides only a best-effort service, the tools for
controlling congestion and providing service are limited. In essence, routers have
two mechanisms to work with:
• Routing algorithm: Most routing protocols in use in internets allow routes to
be selected to minimize delay. Routers exchange information to get a picture
of the delays throughout the internet. Minimum-delay routing helps to bal-
ance loads, thus decreasing local congestion, and helps to reduce delays seen
by individual TCP connections.
• Packet discard: When a router’s buffer overflows, it discards packets. Typically,
the most recent packet is discarded. The effect of lost packets on a TCP con-
nection is that the sending TCP entity backs off and reduces its load, thus help-
ing to alleviate internet congestion.
These tools have worked reasonably well. However, as the discussion in the
preceding subsection shows, such techniques are inadequate for the variety of traffic
now coming to internets.
ISA is an overall architecture within which a number of enhancements to the tra-
ditional best-effort mechanisms are being developed. In ISA, each IP packet can be
associated with a flow. RFC 1633 defines a flow as a distinguishable stream of related IP
packets that results from a single user activity and requires the same QoS. For example,
a flow might consist of one transport connection or one video stream distinguishable by
the ISA. A flow differs from a TCP connection in two respects: A flow is unidirectional,
and there can be more than one recipient of a flow (multicast).Typically, an IP packet is
identified as a member of a flow on the basis of source and destination IP addresses and
port numbers, and protocol type. The flow identifier in the IPv6 header is not necessar-
ily equivalent to an ISA flow, but in future the IPv6 flow identifier could be used in ISA.
ISA makes use of the following functions to manage congestion and provide
QoS transport:
• Admission control: For QoS transport (other than default best-effort transport),
ISA requires that a reservation be made for a new flow. If the routers collectively
determine that there are insufficient resources to guarantee the requested QoS,
then the flow is not admitted. The protocol RSVP is used to make reservations.
• Routing algorithm: The routing decision may be based on a variety of QoS
parameters, not just minimum delay. For example, the routing protocol OSPF,
discussed in Section 19.2, can select routes based on QoS.
• Queuing discipline: A vital element of the ISA is an effective queuing policy
that takes into account the differing requirements of different flows.
• Discard policy: A discard policy determines which packets to drop when a
buffer is full and new packets arrive. A discard policy can be an important ele-
ment in managing congestion and meeting QoS guarantees.
ISA Components
Figure 19.10 is a general depiction of the implementation architecture for ISA
within a router. Below the thick horizontal line are the forwarding functions of the
router; these are executed for each packet and therefore must be highly optimized.
630
CHAPTER 19 / INTERNETWORK OPERATION
Manage-
Routing
Reservation
Admission
ment
protocol(s)
protocol
control
agent
Traffic
Routing
control
database
database
Classifier &
QoS queuing
Packet
route
scheduler
selection
Best-effort queuing
Figure 19.10
Integrated Services Architecture Implemented in Router
The remaining functions, above the line, are background functions that create data
structures used by the forwarding functions.
The principal background functions are as follows:
• Reservation protocol: This protocol is to reserve resources for a new flow at a
given level of QoS. It is used among routers and between routers and end sys-
tems. The reservation protocol is responsible for maintaining flow-specific
state information at the end systems and at the routers along the path of the
flow. RSVP is used for this purpose. The reservation protocol updates the traf-
fic control database used by the packet scheduler to determine the service
provided for packets of each flow.
• Admission control: When a new flow is requested, the reservation protocol
invokes the admission control function. This function determines if sufficient
resources are available for this flow at the requested QoS. This determination
is based on the current level of commitment to other reservations and/or on
the current load on the network.
• Management agent: A network management agent is able to modify the traf-
fic control database and to direct the admission control module in order to set
admission control policies.
• Routing protocol: The routing protocol is responsible for maintaining a rout-
ing database that gives the next hop to be taken for each destination address
and each flow.
These background functions support the main task of the router, which is the
forwarding of packets. The two principal functional areas that accomplish forward-
ing are the following:
• Classifier and route selection: For the purposes of forwarding and traffic con-
trol, incoming packets must be mapped into classes. A class may correspond to
a single flow or to a set of flows with the same QoS requirements. For example,
19.3 / INTEGRATED SERVICES ARCHITECTURE
631
the packets of all video flows or the packets of all flows attributable to a par-
ticular organization may be treated identically for purposes of resource alloca-
tion and queuing discipline. The selection of class is based on fields in the IP
header. Based on the packet’s class and its destination IP address, this function
determines the next-hop address for this packet.
• Packet scheduler: This function manages one or more queues for each output
port. It determines the order in which queued packets are transmitted and the
selection of packets for discard, if necessary. Decisions are made based on a
packet’s class, the contents of the traffic control database, and current and past
activity on this outgoing port. Part of the packet scheduler’s task is that of
policing, which is the function of determining whether the packet traffic in a
given flow exceeds the requested capacity and, if so, deciding how to treat the
excess packets.
ISA Services
ISA service for a flow of packets is defined on two levels. First, a number of general
categories of service are provided, each of which provides a certain general type of
service guarantees. Second, within each category, the service for a particular flow is
specified by the values of certain parameters; together, these values are referred to
as a traffic specification (TSpec). Currently, three categories of service are defined:
• Guaranteed
• Controlled load
• Best effort
An application can request a reservation for a flow for a guaranteed or con-
trolled load QoS, with a TSpec that defines the exact amount of service required. If
the reservation is accepted, then the TSpec is part of the contract between the data
flow and the service. The service agrees to provide the requested QoS as long as the
flow’s data traffic continues to be described accurately by the TSpec. Packets that
are not part of a reserved flow are by default given a best-effort delivery service.
Before looking at the ISA service categories, one general concept should be
defined: the token bucket traffic specification. This is a way of characterizing traffic
that has three advantages in the context of ISA:
1. Many traffic sources can be defined easily and accurately by a token bucket
scheme.
2. The token bucket scheme provides a concise description of the load to be imposed
by a flow, enabling the service to determine easily the resource requirement.
3. The token bucket scheme provides the input parameters to a policing function.
A token bucket traffic specification consists of two parameters: a token
replenishment rate R and a bucket size B. The token rate R specifies the continually
sustainable data rate; that is, over a relatively long period of time, the average data
rate to be supported for this flow is R. The bucket size B specifies the amount by
which the data rate can exceed R for short periods of time. The exact condition is as
follows: During any time period T, the amount of data sent cannot exceed RT + B.
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CHAPTER 19 / INTERNETWORK OPERATION
Token replenishment
rate R bps
Token
generator
1. Router puts tokens
into bucket at
predetermined rate.
2. Tokens can
accumulate up
Bucket
to bucket size;
size B bits
excess tokens
discarded.
4. Router's queue regulator
requests tokens equal to
to size of the next packet.
3. Traffic seeks
5. If tokens are available,
admittance
packet is queued for
to network.
transmission.
Arriving
Regulator
packets
Departing
packets
6. If tokens are not available,
packet is either queued for
transmission but marked as
excess, buffered for later transmission,
or discarded.
Figure 19.11
Token Bucket Scheme
Figure 19.11 illustrates this scheme and explains the use of the term bucket.
The bucket represents a counter that indicates the allowable number of octets of IP
data that can be sent at any time. The bucket fills with octet tokens at the rate of R
(i.e., the counter is incremented R times per second), up to the bucket capacity (up
to the maximum counter value). IP packets arrive and are queued for processing.
An IP packet may be processed if there are sufficient octet tokens to match the IP
data size. If so, the packet is processed and the bucket is drained of the correspond-
ing number of tokens. If a packet arrives and there are insufficient tokens available,
then the packet exceeds the TSpec for this flow. The treatment for such packets is
not specified in the ISA documents; common actions are relegating the packet to
best-effort service, discarding the packet, or marking the packet in such a way that it
may be discarded in future.
Over the long run, the rate of IP data allowed by the token bucket is R. How-
ever, if there is an idle or relatively slow period, the bucket capacity builds up, so
that at most an additional B octets above the stated rate can be accepted. Thus, B is
a measure of the degree of burstiness of the data flow that is allowed.
Guaranteed Service The key elements of the guaranteed service are as follows:
• The service provides assured capacity, or data rate.
19.3 / INTEGRATED SERVICES ARCHITECTURE
633
• There is a specified upper bound on the queuing delay through the network.
This must be added to the propagation delay, or latency, to arrive at the bound
on total delay through the network.
• There are no queuing losses. That is, no packets are lost due to buffer overflow;
packets may be lost due to failures in the network or changes in routing paths.
With this service, an application provides a characterization of its expected
traffic profile, and the service determines the end-to-end delay that it can guarantee.
One category of applications for this service is those that need an upper
bound on delay so that a delay buffer can be used for real-time playback of
incoming data, and that do not tolerate packet losses because of the degradation
in the quality of the output. Another example is applications with hard real-time
deadlines.
The guaranteed service is the most demanding service provided by ISA.
Because the delay bound is firm, the delay has to be set at a large value to cover rare
cases of long queuing delays.
Controlled Load The key elements of the controlled load service are as follows:
• The service tightly approximates the behavior visible to applications receiving
best-effort service under unloaded conditions.
• There is no specified upper bound on the queuing delay through the network.
However, the service ensures that a very high percentage of the packets do not
experience delays that greatly exceed the minimum transit delay (i.e., the
delay due to propagation time plus router processing time with no queuing
delays).
• A very high percentage of transmitted packets will be successfully delivered
(i.e., almost no queuing loss).
As was mentioned, the risk in an internet that provides QoS for real-time
applications is that best-effort traffic is crowded out. This is because best-effort
types of applications employ TCP, which will back off in the face of congestion and
delays. The controlled load service guarantees that the network will set aside suffi-
cient resources so that an application that receives this service will see a network
that responds as if these real-time applications were not present and competing for
resources.
The controlled service is useful for applications that have been referred to as
adaptive real-time applications [CLAR92]. Such applications do not require an a
priori upper bound on the delay through the network. Rather, the receiver measures
the jitter experienced by incoming packets and sets the playback point to the mini-
mum delay that still produces a sufficiently low loss rate (e.g., video can be adaptive
by dropping a frame or delaying the output stream slightly; voice can be adaptive by
adjusting silent periods).
Queuing Discipline
An important component of an ISA implementation is the queuing discipline used
at the routers. Routers traditionally have used a first-in-first-out (FIFO) queuing
634
CHAPTER 19 / INTERNETWORK OPERATION
discipline at each output port. A single queue is maintained at each output port.
When a new packet arrives and is routed to an output port, it is placed at the end of
the queue. As long as the queue is not empty, the router transmits packets from the
queue, taking the oldest remaining packet next.
There are several drawbacks to the FIFO queuing discipline:
• No special treatment is given to packets from flows that are of higher priority
or are more delay sensitive. If a number of packets from different flows are
ready to be forwarded, they are handled strictly in FIFO order.
• If a number of smaller packets are queued behind a long packet, then FIFO
queuing results in a larger average delay per packet than if the shorter packets
were transmitted before the longer packet. In general, flows of larger packets
get better service.
• A greedy TCP connection can crowd out more altruistic connections. If con-
gestion occurs and one TCP connection fails to back off, other connections
along the same path segment must back off more than they would otherwise
have to do.
To overcome the drawbacks of FIFO queuing, some sort of fair queuing scheme is
used, in which a router maintains multiple queues at each output port (Figure
19.12). With simple fair queuing, each incoming packet is placed in the queue for its
flow. The queues are serviced in round-robin fashion, taking one packet from each
nonempty queue in turn. Empty queues are skipped over. This scheme is fair in that
each busy flow gets to send exactly one packet per cycle. Further, this is a form of
load balancing among the various flows. There is no advantage in being greedy. A
greedy flow finds that its queues become long, increasing its delays, whereas other
flows are unaffected by this behavior.
A number of vendors have implemented a refinement of fair queuing known
as weighted fair queuing (WFQ). In essence, WFQ takes into account the amount of
traffic through each queue and gives busier queues more capacity without com-
pletely shutting out less busy queues. In addition, WFQ can take into account the
amount of service requested by each traffic flow and adjust the queuing discipline
accordingly.
Flow 1
Flow 1
Flow 2
Flow 2
Multiplexed
Multiplexed
Xmit
Xmit
output
output
Flow N
Flow N
(a) FIFO queuing
(b) Fair queuing
Figure 19.12
FIFO and Fair Queuing
19.3 / INTEGRATED SERVICES ARCHITECTURE
635
Resource ReSerVation Protocol (RSVP)
RFC 2205 defines RSVP, which provides supporting functionality for ISA. This sub-
section provides an overview.
A key task, perhaps the key task, of an internetwork is to deliver data from a
source to one or more destinations with the desired quality of service (QoS), such as
throughput, delay, delay variance, and so on. This task becomes increasingly difficult
on any internetwork with increasing number of users, data rate of applications, and
use of multicasting. To meet these needs, it is not enough for an internet to react to
congestion. Instead a tool is needed to prevent congestion by allowing applications
to reserve network resources at a given QoS.
Preventive measures can be useful in both unicast and multicast transmission.
For unicast, two applications agree on a specific quality of service for a session and
expect the internetwork to support that quality of service. If the internetwork is
heavily loaded, it may not provide the desired QoS and instead deliver packets at a
reduced QoS. In that case, the applications may have preferred to wait before initiat-
ing the session or at least to have been alerted to the potential for reduced QoS. A
way of dealing with this situation is to have the unicast applications reserve resources
in order to meet a given quality of service. Routers along an intended path could then
preallocate resources (queue space, outgoing capacity) to assure the desired QoS. If a
router could not meet the resource reservation because of prior outstanding reserva-
tions, then the applications could be informed. The applications may then decide to
try again at a reduced QoS reservation or may decide to try later.
Multicast transmission presents a much more compelling case for implement-
ing resource reservation. A multicast transmission can generate a tremendous
amount of internetwork traffic if either the application is high-volume (e.g., video)
or the group of multicast destinations is large and scattered, or both. What makes
the case for multicast resource reservation is that much of the potential load gener-
ated by a multicast source may easily be prevented. This is so for two reasons:
1. Some members of an existing multicast group may not require delivery from a
particular source over some given period of time. For example, there may be
two “channels” (two multicast sources) broadcasting to a particular multicast
group at the same time. A multicast destination may wish to “tune in” to only
one channel at a time.
2. Some members of a group may only be able to handle a portion of the source
transmission. For example, a video source may transmit a video stream that
consists of two components: a basic component that provides a reduced pic-
ture quality, and an enhanced component. Some receivers may not have the
processing power to handle the enhanced component or may be connected to
the internetwork through a subnetwork or link that does not have the capacity
for the full signal.
Thus, the use of resource reservation can enable routers to decide ahead of
time if they can meet the requirement to deliver a multicast transmission to all des-
ignated multicast receivers and to reserve the appropriate resources if possible.
Internet resource reservation differs from the type of resource reservation that
may be implemented in a connection-oriented network, such as ATM or frame relay.
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CHAPTER 19 / INTERNETWORK OPERATION
An internet resource reservation scheme must interact with a dynamic routing strat-
egy that allows the route followed by packets of a given transmission to change.
When the route changes, the resource reservations must be changed. To deal with this
dynamic situation, the concept of soft state is used. A soft state is simply a set of state
information at a router that expires unless regularly refreshed from the entity that
requested the state. If a route for a given transmission changes, then some soft states
will expire and new resource reservations will invoke the appropriate soft states on
the new routers along the route. Thus, the end systems requesting resources must
periodically renew their requests during the course of an application transmission.
Based on these considerations, the specification lists the following characteris-
tics of RSVP:
•
Unicast and multicast: RSVP makes reservations for both unicast and multi-
cast transmissions, adapting dynamically to changing group membership as
well as to changing routes, and reserving resources based on the individual
requirements of multicast members.
•
Simplex: RSVP makes reservations for unidirectional data flow. Data exchanges
between two end systems require separate reservations in the two directions.
•
Receiver-initiated reservation: The receiver of a data flow initiates and main-
tains the resource reservation for that flow.
•
Maintaining soft state in the internet: RSVP maintains a soft state at interme-
diate routers and leaves the responsibility for maintaining these reservation
states to end users.
•
Providing different reservation styles: These allow RSVP users to specify how
reservations for the same multicast group should be aggregated at the interme-
diate switches. This feature enables a more efficient use of internet resources.
•
Transparent operation through non-RSVP routers: Because reservations and
RSVP are independent of routing protocol, there is no fundamental conflict in
a mixed environment in which some routers do not employ RSVP. These
routers will simply use a best-effort delivery technique.
•
Support for IPv4 and IPv6: RSVP can exploit the Type-of-Service field in the
IPv4 header and the Flow Label field in the IPv6 header.
19.4 DIFFERENTIATED SERVICES
The Integrated Services Architecture (ISA) and RSVP are intended to support QoS
capability in the Internet and in private internets. Although ISA in general and
RSVP in particular are useful tools in this regard, these features are relatively com-
plex to deploy. Further, they may not scale well to handle large volumes of traffic
because of the amount of control signaling required to coordinate integrated QoS
offerings and because of the maintenance of state information required at routers.
As the burden on the Internet grows, and as the variety of applications grow,
there is an immediate need to provide differing levels of QoS to different traffic
flows. The differentiated services (DS) architecture (RFC 2475) is designed to
19.4 / DIFFERENTIATED SERVICES
637
provide a simple, easy-to-implement, low-overhead tool to support a range of net-
work services that are differentiated on the basis of performance.
Several key characteristics of DS contribute to its efficiency and ease of
deployment:
• IP packets are labeled for differing QoS treatment using the existing IPv4
(Figure 18.6) or IPv6 (Figure 18.11) DS field. Thus, no change is required to IP.
• A service level agreement (SLA) is established between the service provider
(internet domain) and the customer prior to the use of DS. This avoids the
need to incorporate DS mechanisms in applications. Thus, existing applica-
tions need not be modified to use DS.
• DS provides a built-in aggregation mechanism. All traffic with the same DS
octet is treated the same by the network service. For example, multiple voice
connections are not handled individually but in the aggregate. This provides
for good scaling to larger networks and traffic loads.
• DS is implemented in individual routers by queuing and forwarding packets
based on the DS octet. Routers deal with each packet individually and do not
have to save state information on packet flows.
Today, DS is the most widely accepted QoS mechanism in enterprise networks.
Although DS is intended to provide a simple service based on relatively sim-
ple mechanisms, the set of RFCs related to DS is relatively complex. Table 19.4 sum-
marizes some of the key terms from these specifications.
Services
The DS type of service is provided within a DS domain, which is defined as a con-
tiguous portion of the Internet over which a consistent set of DS policies are admin-
istered. Typically, a DS domain would be under the control of one administrative
entity. The services provided across a DS domain are defined in an SLA, which is a
service contract between a customer and the service provider that specifies the for-
warding service that the customer should receive for various classes of packets. A
customer may be a user organization or another DS domain. Once the SLA is estab-
lished, the customer submits packets with the DS octet marked to indicate the packet
class. The service provider must assure that the customer gets at least the agreed QoS
for each packet class. To provide that QoS, the service provider must configure the
appropriate forwarding policies at each router (based on DS octet value) and must
measure the performance being provided for each class on an ongoing basis.
If a customer submits packets intended for destinations within the DS domain,
then the DS domain is expected to provide the agreed service. If the destination is
beyond the customer’s DS domain, then the DS domain will attempt to forward the
packets through other domains, requesting the most appropriate service to match
the requested service.
A draft DS framework document lists the following detailed performance
parameters that might be included in an SLA:
• Detailed service performance parameters such as expected throughput, drop
probability, latency
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CHAPTER 19 / INTERNETWORK OPERATION
Table 19.4
Terminology for Differentiated Services
Behavior Aggregate
A set of packets with the same DS codepoint crossing a link in a particular
direction.
Classifier
Selects packets based on the DS field (BA classifier) or on multiple fields within
the packet header (MF classifier).
DS Boundary Node
A DS node that connects one DS domain to a node in another domain.
DS Codepoint
A specified value of the 6-bit DSCP portion of the 8-bit DS field in the IP header.
DS Domain
A contiguous (connected) set of nodes, capable of implementing differentiated ser-
vices, that operate with a common set of service provisioning policies and per-hop
behavior definitions.
DS Interior Node
A DS node that is not a DS boundary node.
DS Node
A node that supports differentiated services. Typically, a DS node is a router. A host
system that provides differentiated services for applications in the host is also a DS
node.
Dropping
The process of discarding packets based on specified rules; also called policing.
Marking
The process of setting the DS codepoint in a packet. Packets may be marked on
initiation and may be re-marked by an en route DS node.
Metering
The process of measuring the temporal properties (e.g., rate) of a packet stream
selected by a classifier. The instantaneous state of that process may affect marking,
shaping, and dropping functions.
Per-Hop Behavior
The externally observable forwarding behavior applied at a node to a behavior
(PHB)
aggregate.
Service Level
A service contract between a customer and a service provider that specifies the
Agreement (SLA)
forwarding service a customer should receive.
Shaping
The process of delaying packets within a packet stream to cause it to conform to
some defined traffic profile.
Traffic Conditioning
Control functions performed to enforce rules specified in a TCA, including
metering, marking, shaping, and dropping.
Traffic Conditioning
An agreement specifying classifying rules and traffic conditioning rules that are to
Agreement (TCA)
apply to packets selected by the classifier.
• Constraints on the ingress and egress points at which the service is provided,
indicating the scope of the service
• Traffic profiles that must be adhered to for the requested service to be provided,
such as token bucket parameters
• Disposition of traffic submitted in excess of the specified profile
The framework document also gives some examples of services that might be
provided:
1. Traffic offered at service level A will be delivered with low latency.
2. Traffic offered at service level B will be delivered with low loss.
3. Ninety percent of in-profile traffic delivered at service level C will experience no
more than 50 ms latency.
4. Ninety-five percent of in-profile traffic delivered at service level D will be delivered.
5. Traffic offered at service level E will be allotted twice the bandwidth of traffic
delivered at service level F.
19.4 / DIFFERENTIATED SERVICES
639
0
1
2
3
4
5
0
1
2
3
4
5
Differentiated services codepoint
Class
Drop precedence
DS codepoint
Class selector
codepoints
000000
Default behavior
Class
Drop precedence
100
Class 4—best service
010
Low—most important
001000
011
Class 3
100
Medium
010000
010
Class 2
110
High—least important
011000
001
Class 1
Class selector
100000
behaviors
101000
110000
111000
101110
Expedited forwarding (EF) behavior
(a) DS Field
(b) Codepoints for assured forwarding PHB
Figure 19.13
DS Field
6. Traffic with drop precedence X has a higher probability of delivery than traffic
with drop precedence Y.
The first two examples are qualitative and are valid only in comparison to
other traffic, such as default traffic that gets a best-effort service. The next two
examples are quantitative and provide a specific guarantee that can be verified by
measurement on the actual service without comparison to any other services
offered at the same time. The final two examples are a mixture of quantitative and
qualitative.
DS Field
Packets are labeled for service handling by means of the 6-bit DS field in the IPv4
header or the IPv6 header. The value of the DS field, referred to as the DS code-
point, is the label used to classify packets for differentiated services. Figure 19.13a
shows the DS field.
With a 6-bit codepoint, there are in principle 64 different classes of traffic that
could be defined. These 64 codepoints are allocated across three pools of code-
points, as follows:
• Codepoints of the form xxxxx0, where x is either 0 or 1, are reserved for
assignment as standards.
• Codepoints of the form xxxx11 are reserved for experimental or local use.
• Codepoints of the form xxxx01 are also reserved for experimental or local use
but may be allocated for future standards action as needed.
Within the first pool, several assignments are made in RFC 2474. The code-
point 000000 is the default packet class. The default class is the best-effort forward-
ing behavior in existing routers. Such packets are forwarded in the order that they
are received as soon as link capacity becomes available. If other higher-priority
640
CHAPTER 19 / INTERNETWORK OPERATION
packets in other DS classes are available for transmission, these are given prefer-
ence over best-effort default packets.
Codepoints of the form xxx000 are reserved to provide backward compatibil-
ity with the IPv4 precedence service. To explain this requirement, we need to digress
to an explanation of the IPv4 precedence service. The IPv4 type of service (TOS)
field includes two subfields: a 3-bit precedence subfield and a 4-bit TOS subfield.
These subfields serve complementary functions. The TOS subfield provides guid-
ance to the IP entity (in the source or router) on selecting the next hop for this data-
gram, and the precedence subfield provides guidance about the relative allocation
of router resources for this datagram.
The precedence field is set to indicate the degree of urgency or priority to be
associated with a datagram. If a router supports the precedence subfield, there are
three approaches to responding:
• Route selection: A particular route may be selected if the router has a smaller
queue for that route or if the next hop on that route supports network prece-
dence or priority (e.g., a token ring network supports priority).
• Network service: If the network on the next hop supports precedence, then
that service is invoked.
• Queuing discipline: A router may use precedence to affect how queues are
handled. For example, a router may give preferential treatment in queues to
datagrams with higher precedence.
RFC 1812, Requirements for IP Version 4 Routers, provides recommenda-
tions for queuing discipline that fall into two categories:
• Queue service
(a) Routers SHOULD implement precedence-ordered queue service. Prece-
dence-ordered queue service means that when a packet is selected for out-
put on a (logical) link, the packet of highest precedence that has been
queued for that link is sent.
(b) Any router MAY implement other policy-based throughput management
procedures that result in other than strict precedence ordering, but it
MUST be configurable to suppress them (i.e., use strict ordering).
• Congestion control. When a router receives a packet beyond its storage capac-
ity, it must discard it or some other packet or packets.
(a) A router MAY discard the packet it has just received; this is the simplest
but not the best policy.
(b) Ideally, the router should select a packet from one of the sessions most
heavily abusing the link, given that the applicable QoS policy permits this.
A recommended policy in datagram environments using FIFO queues is
to discard a packet randomly selected from the queue. An equivalent algo-
rithm in routers using fair queues is to discard from the longest queue. A
router MAY use these algorithms to determine which packet to discard.
(c) If precedence-ordered queue service is implemented and enabled, the
router MUST NOT discard a packet whose IP precedence is higher than
that of a packet that is not discarded.
19.4 / DIFFERENTIATED SERVICES
641
(d) A router MAY protect packets whose IP headers request the maximize reli-
ability TOS, except where doing so would be in violation of the previous rule.
(e) A router MAY protect fragmented IP packets, on the theory that dropping
a fragment of a datagram may increase congestion by causing all frag-
ments of the datagram to be retransmitted by the source.
(f) To help prevent routing perturbations or disruption of management func-
tions, the router MAY protect packets used for routing control, link con-
trol, or network management from being discarded. Dedicated routers
(i.e., routers that are not also general purpose hosts, terminal servers, etc.)
can achieve an approximation of this rule by protecting packets whose
source or destination is the router itself.
The DS codepoints of the form xxx000 should provide a service that at mini-
mum is equivalent to that of the IPv4 precedence functionality.
DS Configuration and Operation
Figure 19.14 illustrates the type of configuration envisioned in the DS documents. A
DS domain consists of a set of contiguous routers; that is, it is possible to get from
any router in the domain to any other router in the domain by a path that does not
include routers outside the domain. Within a domain, the interpretation of DS code-
points is uniform, so that a uniform, consistent service is provided.
Routers in a DS domain are either boundary nodes or interior nodes. Typi-
cally, the interior nodes implement simple mechanisms for handling packets based
Classifier
Meter
Marker
Classifier
Shaper/dropper
Queue management
DS domain
DS domain
Host
Host
Border component
Interior component
Figure 19.14
DS Domains
642
CHAPTER 19 / INTERNETWORK OPERATION
on their DS codepoint values. This includes queuing discipline to give preferential
treatment depending on codepoint value, and packet-dropping rules to dictate
which packets should be dropped first in the event of buffer saturation. The DS
specifications refer to the forwarding treatment provided at a router as per-hop
behavior (PHB). This PHB must be available at all routers, and typically PHB is the
only part of DS implemented in interior routers.
The boundary nodes include PHB mechanisms but more sophisticated traffic
conditioning mechanisms are also required to provide the desired service. Thus,
interior routers have minimal functionality and minimal overhead in providing the
DS service, while most of the complexity is in the boundary nodes. The boundary
node function can also be provided by a host system attached to the domain, on
behalf of the applications at that host system.
The traffic conditioning function consists of five elements:
•
Classifier: Separates submitted packets into different classes. This is the foun-
dation of providing differentiated services. A classifier may separate traffic
only on the basis of the DS codepoint (behavior aggregate classifier) or based
on multiple fields within the packet header or even the packet payload (multi-
field classifier).
•
Meter: Measures submitted traffic for conformance to a profile. The meter
determines whether a given packet stream class is within or exceeds the ser-
vice level guaranteed for that class.
•
Marker: Re-marks packets with a different codepoint as needed. This may be
done for packets that exceed the profile; for example, if a given throughput is
guaranteed for a particular service class, any packets in that class that exceed
the throughput in some defined time interval may be re-marked for best effort
handling. Also, re-marking may be required at the boundary between two DS
domains. For example, if a given traffic class is to receive the highest supported
priority, and this is a value of 3 in one domain and 7 in the next domain, then
packets with a priority 3 value traversing the first domain are remarked as pri-
ority 7 when entering the second domain.
•
Shaper: Delays packets as necessary so that the packet stream in a given class
does not exceed the traffic rate specified in the profile for that class.
•
Dropper: Drops packets when the rate of packets of a given class exceeds that
specified in the profile for that class.
Figure 19.15 illustrates the relationship between the elements of traffic condi-
tioning. After a flow is classified, its resource consumption must be measured. The
metering function measures the volume of packets over a particular time interval to
determine a flow’s compliance with the traffic agreement. If the host is bursty, a sim-
ple data rate or packet rate may not be sufficient to capture the desired traffic char-
acteristics. A token bucket scheme, such as that illustrated in Figure 19.11, is an
example of a way to define a traffic profile to take into account both packet rate and
burstiness.
If a traffic flow exceeds some profile, several approaches can be taken. Indi-
vidual packets in excess of the profile may be re-marked for lower-quality handling
and allowed to pass into the DS domain. A traffic shaper may absorb a burst of
19.4 / DIFFERENTIATED SERVICES
643
Meter
Packets
Shaper/
Classifier
Marker
dropper
Figure 19.15
DS Traffic Conditioner
packets in a buffer and pace the packets over a longer period of time. A dropper
may drop packets if the buffer used for pacing becomes saturated.
Per-Hop Behavior
As part of the DS standardization effort, specific types of PHB need to be defined,
which can be associated with specific differentiated services. Currently, two stan-
dards-track PHBs have been issued: expedited forwarding PHB (RFCs 3246 and
3247) and assured forwarding PHB (RFC 2597).
Expedited Forwarding PHB RFC 3246 defines the expedited forwarding
(EF) PHB as a building block for low-loss, low-delay, and low-jitter end-to-end ser-
vices through DS domains. In essence, such a service should appear to the endpoints
as providing close to the performance of a point-to-point connection or leased line.
In an internet or packet-switching network, a low-loss, low-delay, and low-jitter
service is difficult to achieve. By its nature, an internet involves queues at each node, or
router, where packets are buffered waiting to use a shared output link. It is the queuing
behavior at each node that results in loss, delays, and jitter. Thus, unless the internet is
grossly oversized to eliminate all queuing effects, care must be taken in handling traffic
for EF PHB to assure that queuing effects do not result in loss, delay, or jitter above a
given threshold. RFC 3246 declares that the intent of the EF PHB is to provide a PHB
in which suitably marked packets usually encounter short or empty queues. The rela-
tive absence of queues minimizes delay and jitter. Furthermore, if queues remain short
relative to the buffer space available, packet loss is also kept to a minimum.
The EF PHB is designed to configuring nodes so that the traffic aggregate3 has
a well-defined minimum departure rate. (Well-defined means “independent of the
dynamic state of the node.” In particular, independent of the intensity of other traf-
fic at the node.) The general concept outlined in RFC 3246 is this: The border nodes
control the traffic aggregate to limit its characteristics (rate, burstiness) to some pre-
defined level. Interior nodes must treat the incoming traffic in such a way that queu-
ing effects do not appear. In general terms, the requirement on interior nodes is that
the aggregate’s maximum arrival rate must be less than the aggregate’s minimum
departure rate.
3The term traffic aggregate refers to the flow of packets associated with a particular service for a particu-
lar user.
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CHAPTER 19 / INTERNETWORK OPERATION
RFC 3246 does not mandate a specific queuing policy at the interior nodes to
achieve the EF PHB. The RFC notes that a simple priority scheme could achieve the
desired effect, with the EF traffic given absolute priority over other traffic. So long
as the EF traffic itself did not overwhelm an interior node, this scheme would result
in acceptable queuing delays for the EF PHB. However, the risk of a simple priority
scheme is that packet flows for other PHB traffic would be disrupted. Thus, some
more sophisticated queuing policy might be warranted.
Assured Forwarding PHB The assured forwarding (AF) PHB is designed to
provide a service superior to best-effort but one that does not require the reserva-
tion of resources within an internet and does not require the use of detailed dis-
crimination among flows from different users. The concept behind the AF PHB was
first introduced in [CLAR98] and is referred to as explicit allocation. The AF PHB
is more complex than explicit allocation, but it is useful to first highlight the key ele-
ments of the explicit allocation scheme:
1. Users are offered the choice of a number of classes of service for their traffic.
Each class describes a different traffic profile in terms of an aggregate data
rate and burstiness.
2. Traffic from a user within a given class is monitored at a boundary node. Each
packet in a traffic flow is marked in or out based on whether it does or does not
exceed the traffic profile.
3. Inside the network, there is no separation of traffic from different users or even
traffic from different classes. Instead, all traffic is treated as a single pool of pack-
ets, with the only distinction being whether each packet has been marked in or out.
4. When congestion occurs, the interior nodes implement a dropping scheme in
which out packets are dropped before in packets.
5. Different users will see different levels of service because they will have dif-
ferent quantities of in packets in the service queues.
The advantage of this approach is its simplicity. Very little work is required by
the internal nodes. Marking of the traffic at the boundary nodes based on traffic
profiles provides different levels of service to different classes.
The AF PHB defined in RFC 2597 expands on the preceding approach in the
following ways:
1. Four AF classes are defined, allowing the definition of four distinct traffic pro-
files. A user may select one or more of these classes to satisfy requirements.
2. Within each class, packets are marked by the customer or by the service
provider with one of three drop precedence values. In case of congestion, the
drop precedence of a packet determines the relative importance of the packet
within the AF class. A congested DS node tries to protect packets with a lower
drop precedence value from being lost by preferably discarding packets with a
higher drop precedence value.
This approach is still simpler to implement than any sort of resource reserva-
tion scheme but provides considerable flexibility. Within an interior DS node, traffic
from the four classes can be treated separately, with different amounts of resources
19.5 / SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS
645
(buffer space, data rate) assigned to the four classes. Within each class, packets are
handled based on drop precedence. Thus, as RFC 2597 points out, the level of for-
warding assurance of an IP packet depends on
• How much forwarding resources has been allocated to the AF class to which
the packet belongs
• The current load of the AF class, and, in case of congestion within the class
• The drop precedence of the packet
RFC 2597 does not mandate any mechanisms at the interior nodes to manage
the AF traffic. It does reference the RED algorithm as a possible way of managing
congestion.
Figure 19.13b shows the recommended codepoints for AF PHB in the DS field.
19.5
SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS
A service level agreement (SLA) is a contract between a network provider and a
customer that defines specific aspects of the service that is to be provided. The defi-
nition is formal and typically defines quantitative thresholds that must be met. An
SLA typically includes the following information:
• A description of the nature of service to be provided: A basic service would be
IP-based network connectivity of enterprise locations plus access to the Inter-
net. The service may include additional functions such as Web hosting, mainte-
nance of domain name servers, and operation and maintenance tasks.
• The expected performance level of the service: The SLA defines a number of
metrics, such as delay, reliability, and availability, with numerical thresholds.
• The process for monitoring and reporting the service level: This describes how
performance levels are measured and reported.
The types of service parameters included in an SLA for an IP network are sim-
ilar to those provided for frame relay and ATM networks. A key difference is that,
because of the unreliable datagram nature of an IP network, it is more difficult to
realize tightly defined constraints on performance, compared to the connection-ori-
ented frame relay and ATM networks.
Figure 19.16 shows a typical configuration that lends itself to an SLA. In this case,
a network service provider maintains an IP-based network. A customer has a number
of private networks (e.g., LANs) at various sites. Customer networks are connected to
the provider via access routers at the access points. The SLA dictates service and per-
formance levels for traffic between access routers across the provider network. In
addition, the provider network links to the Internet and thus provides Internet access
for the enterprise. For example, for the Internet Dedicated Service provided by MCI
• Availability: 100% availability.
• Latency
(delay): Average round-trip transmissions of
between
… 45 ms
access routers in the contiguous United States.Average round-trip transmis-
sions of …90 ms between an access router in the New York metropolitan
646
CHAPTER 19 / INTERNETWORK OPERATION
Customer networks
Access routers
ISP network
Internet
Figure 19.16
Typical Framework for Service Level Agreement
area and an access router in the London metropolitan area. Latency is calcu-
lated by averaging sample measurements taken during a calendar month
between routers.
• Network packet delivery (reliability): Successful packet delivery rate of
Ú 99.5%.
• Denial of service (DoS): Responds to DoS attacks reported by customer
within 15 minutes of customer opening a complete trouble ticket. MCI defines
a DoS attack as more than 95% bandwidth utilization.
• Network jitter: Jitter is defined as the variation or difference in the end-to-end
delay between received packets of an IP or packet stream. Jitter performance
will not exceed 1 ms between access routers.
An SLA can be defined for the overall network service. In addition, SLAs can
be defined for specific end-to-end services available across the carrier’s network,
such as a virtual private network, or differentiated services.
19.6 IP PERFORMANCE METRICS
The IPPM Performance Metrics Working Group (IPPM) is chartered by IETF to
develop standard metrics that relate to the quality, performance, and reliability of
Internet data delivery. Two trends dictate the need for such a standardized measure-
ment scheme:
19.6 / IP PERFORMANCE METRICS
647
1. The Internet has grown and continues to grow at a dramatic rate. Its topology
is increasingly complex. As its capacity has grown, the load on the Internet has
grown at an even faster rate. Similarly, private internets, such as corporate
intranets and extranets, have exhibited similar growth in complexity, capacity,
and load. The sheer scale of these networks makes it difficult to determine
quality, performance, and reliability characteristics.
2. The Internet serves a large and growing number of commercial and personal
users across an expanding spectrum of applications. Similarly, private net-
works are growing in terms of user base and range of applications. Some of
these applications are sensitive to particular QoS parameters, leading users to
require accurate and understandable performance metrics.
A standardized and effective set of metrics enables users and service providers
to have an accurate common understanding of the performance of the Internet and
private internets. Measurement data is useful for a variety of purposes, including
• Supporting capacity planning and troubleshooting of large complex internets
• Encouraging competition by providing uniform comparison metrics across
service providers
• Supporting Internet research in such areas as protocol design, congestion con-
trol, and quality of service
• Verification of service level agreements
Table 19.5 lists the metrics that have been defined in RFCs at the time of this
writing. Table 19.5a lists those metrics which result in a value estimated based on a
sampling technique. The metrics are defined in three stages:
• Singleton metric: The most elementary, or atomic, quantity that can be mea-
sured for a given performance metric. For example, for a delay metric, a sin-
gleton metric is the delay experienced by a single packet.
• Sample metric: A collection of singleton measurements taken during a given
time period. For example, for a delay metric, a sample metric is the set of delay
values for all of the measurements taken during a one-hour period.
• Statistical metric: A value derived from a given sample metric by computing
some statistic of the values defined by the singleton metric on the sample. For
example, the mean of all the one-way delay values on a sample might be
defined as a statistical metric.
The measurement technique can be either active or passive. Active techniques
require injecting packets into the network for the sole purpose of measurement.
There are several drawbacks to this approach. The load on the network is increased.
This, in turn, can affect the desired result. For example, on a heavily loaded network,
the injection of measurement packets can increase network delay, so that the mea-
sured delay is greater than it would be without the measurement traffic. In addition,
an active measurement policy can be abused for denial-of-service attacks disguised
as legitimate measurement activity. Passive techniques observe and extract metrics
from existing traffic. This approach can expose the contents of Internet traffic to
unintended recipients, creating security and privacy concerns. So far, the metrics
defined by the IPPM working group are all active.
648
CHAPTER 19 / INTERNETWORK OPERATION
Table 19.5
IP Performance Metrics
(a) Sampled metrics
Metric Name
Singleton Definition
Statistical Definitions
One-Way Delay
Delay = dT,
where Src transmits first bit of
Percentile, median,
packet at T and Dst received last bit of
minimum, inverse percentile
packet at
T + dT
Round-Trip Delay
Delay = dT,
where Src transmits first bit of
Percentile, median,
packet at T and Src received last bit of
minimum, inverse percentile
packet immediately returned by Dst at
T + dT
One-Way Loss
Packet
loss = 0
(signifying successful
Average
transmission and reception of packet);
= 1
(signifying packet loss)
One-Way Loss
Loss distance: Pattern showing the
Number or rate of loss dis-
Pattern
distance between successive packet losses
tances below a defined
in terms of the sequence of packets
threshold, number of loss
Loss period: Pattern showing the number
periods, pattern of period
of bursty losses (losses involving
lengths, pattern of interloss
consecutive packets)
period lengths.
Packet Delay
Packet delay variation (pdv) for a pair of
Percentile, inverse
Variation
packets with a stream of packets
percentile, jitter, peak-to-
difference between the one-way-delay of
peak pdv
the selected packets
Src = IP address of a host
Dst = IP address of a host
(b) Other metrics
Metric Name
General Definition
Metrics
Connectivity
Ability to deliver a packet
One-way instantaneous connectivity, two-way
over a transport connection.
instantaneous connectivity, one-way interval
connectivity, two-way interval connectivity,
two-way temporal connectivity
Bulk Transfer
Long-term average data
BTC = 1data sent2/1elapsed time2
Capacity
rate (bps) over a single
congestion-aware transport
connection.
For the sample metrics, the simplest technique is to take measurements at
fixed time intervals, known as periodic sampling. There are several problems with
this approach. First, if the traffic on the network exhibits periodic behavior, with a
period that is an integer multiple of the sampling period (or vice versa), correlation
effects may result in inaccurate values. Also, the act of measurement can perturb
what is being measured (for example, injecting measurement traffic into a network
alters the congestion level of the network), and repeated periodic perturbations can
drive a network into a state of synchronization (e.g., [FLOY94]), greatly magnifying
what might individually be minor effects. Accordingly, RFC 2330 (Framework for IP
19.7 / RECOMMENDED READING AND WEB SITES
649
I1
I2
P(i)
P(j)
P(k)
MP1
MP2
P(i)
P(j)
P(k)
I1
I2
dTi
dTj
dTk
I1, I2
times that mark that beginning and ending of the interval
in which the packet stream from which the singleton
measurement is taken occurs
MP1, MP2
source and destination measurement points
P(i)
ith measured packet in a stream of packets
dTi
one-way delay for P(i)
Figure 19.17
Model for Defining Packet Delay Variation
Performance Metrics) recommends Poisson sampling. This method uses a Poisson
distribution to generate random time intervals with the desired mean value.
Most of the statistical metrics listed in Table 19.5a are self-explanatory. The
percentile metric is defined as follows: The xth percentile is a value y such that x%
of measurements
The inverse percentile of x for a set of measurements is the
Ú y.
percentage of all values
… x.
Figure 19.17 illustrates the packet delay variation metric. This metric is used to
measure jitter, or variability, in the delay of packets traversing the network. The sin-
gleton metric is defined by selecting two packet measurements and measuring the
difference in the two delays. The statistical measures make use of the absolute val-
ues of the delays.
Table 19.5b lists two metrics that are not defined statistically. Connectivity
deals with the issue of whether a transport-level connection is maintained by the
network. The current specification (RFC 2678) does not detail specific sample and
statistical metrics but provides a framework within which such metrics could be
defined. Connectivity is determined by the ability to deliver a packet across a con-
nection within a specified time limit. The other metric, bulk transfer capacity, is sim-
ilarly specified (RFC 3148) without sample and statistical metrics but begins to
address the issue of measuring the transfer capacity of a network service with the
implementation of various congestion control mechanisms.
19.7 RECOMMENDED READING AND WEB SITES
A number of worthwhile books provide detailed coverage of various routing algorithms:
[HUIT00], [BLAC00], and [PERL00]. [MOY98] provides a thorough treatment of OSPF.
Perhaps the clearest and most comprehensive book-length treatment of Internet QoS is
[ARMI00]. [XIAO99] provides an overview and overall framework for Internet QoS as well
as integrated and differentiated services. [CLAR92] and [CLAR95] provide valuable surveys
of the issues involved in internet service allocation for real-time and elastic applications,
650
CHAPTER 19 / INTERNETWORK OPERATION
respectively. [SHEN95] is a masterful analysis of the rationale for a QoS-based internet archi-
tecture. [ZHAN95] is a broad survey of queuing disciplines that can be used in an ISA, includ-
ing an analysis of FQ and WFQ.
[ZHAN93] is a good overview of the philosophy and functionality of RSVP, written by
its developers. [WHIT97] is a broad survey of both ISA and RSVP.
[CARP02] and [WEIS98] are instructive surveys of differentiated services, while
[KUMA98] looks at differentiated services and supporting router mechanisms that go
beyond the current RFCs. For a thorough treatment of DS, see [KILK99].
Two papers that compare IS and DS in terms of services and performance are
[BERN00] and [HARJ00].
[VERM04] is an excellent surveys of service level agreements for IP networks.
[BOUI02] covers the more general case of data networks. [MART02] examines limitations of
IP network SLAs compared to data networks such as frame relay.
[CHEN02] is a useful survey of Internet performance measurement issues. [PAXS96]
provides an overview of the framework of the IPPM effort.
ARMI00
Armitage, G. Quality of Service in IP Networks. Indianapolis, IN: Macmillan
Technical Publishing, 2000.
BERN00
Bernet, Y. “The Complementary Roles of RSVP and Differentiated Services in
the Full-Service QoS Network.” IEEE Communications Magazine, February 2000.
BLAC00
Black, U. IP Routing Protocols: RIP, OSPF, BGP, PNNI & Cisco Routing
Protocols. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000.
BOUI02
Bouillet, E.; Mitra, D.; and Ramakrishnan, K. “The Structure and Management
of Service Level Agreements in Networks.” IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in
Communications, May 2002.
CARP02
Carpenter, B., and Nichols, K. “Differentiated Services in the Internet.”
Proceedings of the IEEE, September 2002.
CHEN02
Chen, T. “Internet Performance Monitoring.” Proceedings of the IEEE,
September 2002.
CLAR92
Clark, D.; Shenker, S.; and Zhang, L. “Supporting Real-Time Applications in
an Integrated Services Packet Network: Architecture and Mechanism” Proceedings,
SIGCOMM ’92, August 1992.
CLAR95
Clark, D. Adding Service Discrimination to the Internet. MIT Laboratory for
Computer Science Technical Report, September
HARJ00
Harju, J., and Kivimaki, P. “Cooperation and Comparison of DiffServ and
IntServ: Performance Measurements.” Proceedings, 23rd Annual IEEE Conference
on Local Computer Networks, November 2000.
HUIT00
Huitema, C. Routing in the Internet. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000.
KILK99
Kilkki, K. Differentiated Services for the Internet. Indianapolis, IN: Macmillan
Technical Publishing, 1999.
KUMA98
Kumar, V.; Lakshman, T.; and Stiliadis, D. “Beyond Best Effort: Router Archi-
tectures for the Differentiated Services of Tomorrow’s Internet.” IEEE Communi-
cations Magazine, May 1998.
MART02
Martin, J., and Nilsson, A. “On Service Level Agreements for IP Networks.”
Proceeding IEEE INFOCOMM ’02, 2002.
MOY98
Moy, J. OSPF: Anatomy of an Internet Routing Protocol. Reading, MA:
Addison-Wesley, 1998.
19.8 / KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
651
PAXS96
Paxson, V. “Toward a Framework for Defining Internet Performance Metrics.”
PERL00
Perlman, R. Interconnections: Bridges, Routers, Switches, and Internetworking
Protocols. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 2000.
SHEN95
Shenker, S. “Fundamental Design Issues for the Future Internet.” IEEE Jour-
nal on Selected Areas in Communications, September 1995.
VERM04
Verma, D. “Service Level Agreements on IP Networks.” Proceedings of the
IEEE, September 2004.
WEIS98
Weiss, W. “QoS with Differentiated Services.” Bell Labs Technical Journal,
October-December 1998.
WHIT97
White, P., and Crowcroft, J. “The Integrated Services in the Internet: State of
the Art.” Proceedings of the IEEE, December 1997.
XIAO99
Xiao, X., and Ni, L. “Internet QoS: A Big Picture.” IEEE Network, March/April
1999.
ZHAN93
Zhang, L.; Deering, S.; Estrin, D.; Shenker, S.; and Zappala, D. “RSVP: A New
Resource ReSerVation Protocol.” IEEE Network, September 1993.
ZHAN95
Zhang, H. “Service Disciplines for Guaranteed Performance Service in
Packet-Switching Networks.” Proceedings of the IEEE, October 1995.
Recommended Web sites:
• Inter-Domain Routing working group: Chartered by IETF to revise BGP and
related standards. The Web site includes all relevant RFCs and Internet drafts.
• OSPF working group: Chartered by IETF to develop OSPF and related standards.
The Web site includes all relevant RFCs and Internet drafts.
• RSVP Project: Home page for RSVP development.
• IP Performance Metrics working group: Chartered by IETF to develop a set of
standard metrics that can be applied to the quality, performance, and reliability of Inter-
net data delivery services. The Web site includes all relevant RFCs and Internet drafts.
19.8 KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
Key Terms
autonomous system (AS)
elastic traffic
jitter
Border Gateway Protocol
exterior router protocol
link-state routing
(BGP)
inelastic traffic
marker
classifier
Integrated Services Architec-
meter
broadcast address
ture (ISA)
multicast address
Differentiated Services (DS)
interior router protocol
multicasting
distance-vector routing
Internet Group Management
neighbor acquisition
dropper
Protocol
neighbor reachability
652
CHAPTER 19 / INTERNETWORK OPERATION
network reachability
per-hop behavior
Resource ReSerVation Proto-
Open Shortest Path First
(PHB)
col (RSVP)
(OSPF)
quality of service (QoS)
shaper
path-vector routing
queuing discipline
unicast address
Review Questions
19.1
List some practical applications of multicasting.
19.2
Summarize the differences among unicast, multicast, and broadcast addresses.
19.3
List and briefly explain the functions that are required for multicasting.
19.4
What operations are performed by IGMP?
19.5
What is an autonomous system?
19.6
What is the difference between an interior router protocol and an exterior router pro-
tocol?
19.7
Compare the three main approaches to routing.
19.8
List and briefly explain the three main functions of BGP.
19.9
What is the Integrated Services Architecture?
19.10
What is the difference between elastic and inelastic traffic?
19.11
What are the major functions that are part of an ISA?
19.12
List and briefly describe the three categories of service offered by ISA.
19.13
What is the difference between FIFO queuing and WFQ queuing?
19.14
What is the purpose of a DS codepoint?
19.15
List and briefly explain the five main functions of DS traffic conditioning.
19.16
What is meant by per-hop behavior?
Problems
19.1
Most operating systems include a tool named “traceroute” (or “tracert”) that can be
used to determine the path packets follow to reach a specified host from the system
the tool is being run on. A number of sites provide Web access to the “traceroute”
tool, for example,
Use the “traceroute” tool to determine the path packets follow to reach the host
williamstallings.com.
19.2
A connected graph may have more than one spanning tree. Find all spanning trees of
this graph:
19.3
In the discussion of Figure 19.1, three alternatives for transmitting a packet to a mul-
ticast address were discussed: broadcast, multiple unicast, and true multicast. Yet
another alternative is flooding. The source transmits one packet to each neighboring
router. Each router, when it receives a packet, retransmits the packet on all outgoing
interfaces except the one on which the packet is received. Each packet is labeled with
a unique identifier so that a router does not flood the same packet more than once.
Fill out a matrix similar to those of Table 19.1 and comment on the results.
19.8 / KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
653
19.4
In a manner similar to Figure 19.3, show the spanning tree from router B to the mul-
ticast group.
19.5
IGMP specifies that query messages are sent in IP datagrams that have the Time to
Live field set to 1. Why?
19.6
In IGMPv1 and IGMPv2, a host will cancel sending a pending membership report if it
hears another host claiming membership in that group, in order to control the gener-
ation of IGMP traffic. However, IGMPv3 removes this suppression of host member-
ship reports. Analyze the reasons behind this design decision.
19.7
IGMP Membership Queries include a “Max Resp Code” field that specifies the max-
imum time allowed before sending a responding report. The actual time allowed,
called the Max Resp Time, is represented in units of 1/10 second and is derived from
the Max Resp Code as follows:
If MaxRespCode 6 128, MaxRespTime = Max Resp Code
If
MaxRespTime is a floating-point value as follows:
MaxRespCode Ú 128,
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
1
exp
mant
MaxRespTime = 1mant ƒ 0x102 V 1exp + 32 in C notation
MaxRespTime = 1mant + 162 * 21exp+32
Explain the motivation for the smaller values and the larger values.
19.8
Multicast applications call an API function on their sockets in order to ask the IP
layer to enable or disable reception of packets sent from some specific IP address(es)
to a specific multicast address.
For each of these sockets, the system records the desired multicast reception state.
In addition to these per-socket multicast reception states, the system must maintain a
multicast reception state for each of its interfaces, which is derived from the per-
socket reception states.
Suppose four multicast applications run on the same host, and participate in the
same multicast group, M1. The first application uses an
fil-
EXCLUDE5A1, A2, A36
ter. The second one uses an
filter. The third one uses an
EXCLUDE5A1, A3, A46
filter. And the fourth one uses an
filter.
INCLUDE5A3, A46
INCLUDE5A36
What’s the resulting multicast state (multicast address, filter mode, source list) for the
network interface?
19.9
Multicast applications commonly use UDP or RTP (Real-Time Transport Protocol;
discussed in Chapter 24) as their transport protocol. Multicast application do not use
TCP as its transport protocol. What’s the problem with TCP?
19.10
With multicasting, packets are delivered to multiple destinations. Thus, in case of
errors (such as routing failures), one IP packet might trigger multiple ICMP error
packets, leading to a packet storm. How is this potential problem avoided? Hint: Con-
sult RFC 1122.
19.11
BGP’s AS_PATH attribute identifies the autonomous systems through which routing
information has passed. How can the AS_PATH attribute be used to detect routing
information loops?
19.12
BGP provides a list of autonomous systems on the path to the destination. However,
this information cannot be considered a distance metric. Why?
19.13
RFC 2330 (Framework for IP Performance Metrics) defines percentile in the follow-
ing way. Given a collection of measurements, define the function F(x), which for any x
gives the percentage of the total measurements that were
… x.
If x is less than the min-
imum value observed, then
F1x2 = 0%.
If it is greater or equal to the maximum value
observed, then
F1x2 = 100%.
The yth percentile refer to the smallest value of x for
which
F1x2 Ú y.
Consider that we have the following measurements:
- 2,
7, 7, 4, 18,
- 5. Determine the following percentiles: 0, 25, 50, 100.
654
CHAPTER 19 / INTERNETWORK OPERATION
19.14
For the one-way and two-way delay metrics, if a packet fails to arrive within a reason-
able period of time, the delay is taken to be undefined (informally, infinite). The
threshold of reasonable is a parameter of the methodology. Suppose we take a sample
of one-way delays and get the following results: 100 ms, 110 ms, undefined, 90 ms,
500 ms. What is the 50th percentile?
19.15
RFC 2330 defines the median of a set of measurements to be equal to the 50th per-
centile if the number of measurements is odd. For an even number of measurements,
sort the measurements in ascending order; the median is then the mean of the two
central values. What is the median value for the measurements in the preceding two
problems?
19.16
RFC 2679 defines the inverse percentile of x for a set of measurements to be the per-
centage of all values
What is the inverse percentile of 103 ms for the measure-
… x.
ments in Problem 19.14?
19.17
When multiple equal-cost routes to a destination exist, OSPF may distribute traffic
equally among the routes. This is called load balancing. What effect does such load
balancing have on a transport layer protocol, such as TCP?
19.18
It is clear that if a router gives preferential treatment to one flow or one class of flows,
then that flow or class of flows will receive improved service. It is not as clear that the
overall service provided by the internet is improved. This question is intended to illus-
trate an overall improvement. Consider a network with a single link modeled by an
exponential server of rate
T
s
= 1,
and consider two classes of flows with Poisson
arrival rates of
l1 = l2 = 0.25
and that have utility functions
U1 = 4 - 2Tq1
and
where T represents the average queuing delay to class i. Thus, class 1
qi
U2 = 4 - Tq2,
traffic is more sensitive to delay than class 2. Define the total utility of the network as
V = U1 + U2.
a. Assume that the two classes are treated alike and that FIFO queuing is used.
What is V?
b. Now assume a strict priority service so that packets from class 1 are always trans-
mitted before packets in class 2. What is V? Comment.
19.19
Provide three examples (each) of elastic and inelastic Internet traffic. Justify each
example’s inclusion in their respective category.
19.20
Why does a Differentiated Services (DS) domain consist of a set of contiguous
routers? How are the boundary node routers different from the interior node routers
in a DS domain?
19.21
The token bucket scheme places a limit on the length of time at which traffic can
depart at the maximum data rate. Let the token bucket be defined by a bucket size B
octets and a token arrival rate of R octets/second, and let the maximum output data
rate be M octets/s.
a. Derive a formula for S, which is the length of the maximum-rate burst. That is, for
how long can a flow transmit at the maximum output rate when governed by a
token bucket?
b. What is the value of S for
and
B = 250 KB, R = 2 MB/s,
M = 25 MB/s?
Hint: The formula for S is not so simple as it might appear, because more tokens
arrive while the burst is being output.
19.22
In RSVP, because the UDP/TCP port numbers are used for packet classification, each
router must be able to examine these fields. This requirement raises problems in the
following areas:
a. IPv6 header processing
b. IP-level security
Indicate the nature of the problem in each area, and suggest a solution.
CHAPTER
20
TRANSPORT PROTOCOLS
20.1
Connection-Oriented Transport Protocol Mechanisms
20.2
TCP
20.3
TCP Congestion Control
20.4
UDP
20.5
Recommended Reading and Web Sites
20.6
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
655
656
CHAPTER 20 / TRANSPORT PROTOCOLS
The foregoing observations should make us reconsider the widely held view that birds
live only in the present. In fact, birds are aware of more than immediately present
stimuli; they remember the past and anticipate the future.
—The Minds of Birds, Alexander Skutch
KEY POINTS
•
The transport protocol provides an end-to-end data transfer service
that shields upper-layer protocols from the details of the intervening
network or networks. A transport protocol can be either connection
oriented, such as TCP, or connectionless, such as UDP.
•
If the underlying network or internetwork service is unreliable, such
as with the use of IP, then a reliable connection-oriented transport
protocol becomes quite complex. The basic cause of this complexity is
the need to deal with the relatively large and variable delays experi-
enced between end systems. These large, variable delays complicate
the flow control and error control techniques.
•
TCP uses a credit-based flow control technique that is somewhat dif-
ferent from the sliding-window flow control found in X.25 and
HDLC. In essence, TCP separates acknowledgments from the man-
agement of the size of the sliding window.
•
Although the TCP credit-based mechanism was designed for end-to-
end flow control, it is also used to assist in internetwork congestion
control. When a TCP entity detects the presence of congestion in the
Internet, it reduces the flow of data onto the Internet until it detects
an easing in congestion.
In a protocol architecture, the transport protocol sits above a network or
internetwork layer, which provides network-related services, and just below applica-
tion and other upper-layer protocols. The transport protocol provides services to
transport service (TS) users, such as FTP, SMTP, and TELNET. The local transport
entity communicates with some remote transport entity, using the services of some
lower layer, such as the Internet Protocol. The general service provided by a trans-
port protocol is the end-to-end transport of data in a way that shields the TS user
from the details of the underlying communications systems.
We begin this chapter by examining the protocol mechanisms required to pro-
vide these services. We find that most of the complexity relates to reliable connec-
tion-oriented services. As might be expected, the less the network service provides,
the more the transport protocol must do. The remainder of the chapter looks at two
widely used transport protocols: Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User
Datagram Protocol (UDP).
Refer to Figure 2.5 to see the position within the TCP/IP suite of the protocols
discussed in this chapter.
20.1 / CONNECTION-ORIENTED TRANSPORT PROTOCOL MECHANISMS
657
20.1
CONNECTION-ORIENTED TRANSPORT
PROTOCOL MECHANISMS
Two basic types of transport service are possible: connection oriented and connec-
tionless or datagram service. A connection-oriented service provides for the estab-
lishment, maintenance, and termination of a logical connection between TS users.
This has, so far, been the most common type of protocol service available and has a
wide variety of applications. The connection-oriented service generally implies that
the service is reliable. This section looks at the transport protocol mechanisms
needed to support the connection-oriented service.
A full-feature connection-oriented transport protocol, such as TCP, is very
complex. For purposes of clarity we present the transport protocol mechanisms in
an evolutionary fashion. We begin with a network service that makes life easy for
the transport protocol, by guaranteeing the delivery of all transport data units in
order and defining the required mechanisms. Then we will look at the transport pro-
tocol mechanisms required to cope with an unreliable network service. All of this
discussion applies in general to transport-level protocols. In Section 20.2, we apply
the concepts developed in this section to describe TCP.
Reliable Sequencing Network Service
Let us assume that the network service accepts messages of arbitrary length and,
with virtually 100% reliability, delivers them in sequence to the destination. Exam-
ples of such networks are as follows:
• A highly reliable packet-switching network with an X.25 interface
• A frame relay network using the LAPF control protocol
• An IEEE 802.3 LAN using the connection-oriented LLC service
In all of these cases, the transport protocol is used as an end-to-end proto-
col between two systems attached to the same network, rather than across an
internet.
The assumption of a reliable sequencing networking service allows the use of
a quite simple transport protocol. Four issues need to be addressed:
• Addressing
• Multiplexing
• Flow control
• Connection establishment/termination
Addressing The issue concerned with addressing is simply this: A user of a given
transport entity wishes either to establish a connection with or make a data transfer
to a user of some other transport entity using the same transport protocol. The tar-
get user needs to be specified by all of the following:
• User identification
• Transport entity identification
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CHAPTER 20 / TRANSPORT PROTOCOLS
• Host address
• Network number
The transport protocol must be able to derive the information listed above
from the TS user address. Typically, the user address is specified as (Host, Port). The
Port variable represents a particular TS user at the specified host. Generally, there
will be a single transport entity at each host, so a transport entity identification is not
needed. If more than one transport entity is present, there is usually only one of
each type. In this latter case, the address should include a designation of the type of
transport protocol (e.g., TCP, UDP). In the case of a single network, Host identifies
an attached network device. In the case of an internet, Host is a global internet
address. In TCP, the combination of port and host is referred to as a socket.
Because routing is not a concern of the transport layer, it simply passes the
Host portion of the address down to the network service. Port is included in a trans-
port header, to be used at the destination by the destination transport protocol entity.
One question remains to be addressed: How does the initiating TS user know
the address of the destination TS user? Two static and two dynamic strategies sug-
gest themselves:
1.
The TS user knows the address it wishes to use ahead of time. This is basically
a system configuration function. For example, a process may be running that is
only of concern to a limited number of TS users, such as a process that collects
statistics on performance. From time to time, a central network management
routine connects to the process to obtain the statistics. These processes gener-
ally are not, and should not be, well known and accessible to all.
2.
Some commonly used services are assigned “well-known addresses.” Examples
include the server side of FTP, SMTP, and some other standard protocols.
3.
A name server is provided. The TS user requests a service by some generic or
global name. The request is sent to the name server, which does a directory
lookup and returns an address. The transport entity then proceeds with the con-
nection. This service is useful for commonly used applications that change loca-
tion from time to time. For example, a data entry process may be moved from one
host to another on a local network to balance load.
4.
In some cases, the target user is to be a process that is spawned at request
time.The initiating user can send a process request to a well-known address.
The user at that address is a privileged system process that will spawn the
new process and return an address. For example, a programmer has devel-
oped a private application (e.g., a simulation program) that will execute on
a remote server but be invoked from a local workstation. A request can be
issued to a remote job-management process that spawns the simulation
process.
Multiplexing Multiplexing was discussed in general terms in Section 18.1. With
respect to the interface between the transport protocol and higher-level protocols,
the transport protocol performs a multiplexing/demultiplexing function. That is,
multiple users employ the same transport protocol and are distinguished by port
numbers or service access points.
20.1 / CONNECTION-ORIENTED TRANSPORT PROTOCOL MECHANISMS
659
The transport entity may also perform a multiplexing function with respect to
the network services that it uses. Recall that we defined upward multiplexing as the
multiplexing of multiple connections on a single lower-level connection, and down-
ward multiplexing as the splitting of a single connection among multiple lower-level
connections (Section 18.1).
Consider, for example, a transport entity making use of an X.25 service. Why
should the transport entity employ upward multiplexing? There are, after all, 4095
virtual circuits available. In the typical case, this is more than enough to handle all
active TS users. However, most X.25 networks base part of their charge on virtual
circuit connect time, because each virtual circuit consumes some node buffer
resources. Thus, if a single virtual circuit provides sufficient throughput for multiple
TS users, upward multiplexing is indicated.
On the other hand, downward multiplexing or splitting might be used to
improve throughput. For example, each X.25 virtual circuit is restricted to a
3-bit or 7-bit sequence number. A larger sequence space might be needed for
high-speed, high-delay networks. Of course, throughput can only be increased
so far. If there is a single host-node link over which all virtual circuits are mul-
tiplexed, the throughput of a transport connection cannot exceed the data rate
of that link.
Flow Control Whereas flow control is a relatively simple mechanism at the
link layer, it is a rather complex mechanism at the transport layer, for two main
reasons:
• The transmission delay between transport entities is generally long compared
to actual transmission time. This means that there is a considerable delay in
the communication of flow control information.
• Because the transport layer operates over a network or internet, the amount
of the transmission delay may be highly variable. This makes it difficult to
effectively use a timeout mechanism for retransmission of lost data.
In general, there are two reasons why one transport entity would want to restrain
the rate of segment1 transmission over a connection from another transport entity:
• The user of the receiving transport entity cannot keep up with the flow of data.
• The receiving transport entity itself cannot keep up with the flow of segments.
How do such problems manifest themselves? Presumably a transport entity has
a certain amount of buffer space. Incoming segments are added to the buffer. Each
buffered segment is processed (i.e., the transport header is examined) and the data
are sent to the TS user. Either of the two problems just mentioned will cause the
buffer to fill up. Thus, the transport entity needs to take steps to stop or slow the flow
of segments to prevent buffer overflow. This requirement is difficult to fulfill because
of the annoying time gap between sender and receiver. We return to this point subse-
quently. First, we present four ways of coping with the flow control requirement. The
receiving transport entity can
1Recall from Chapter 2 that the blocks of data (protocol data units) exchanged by TCP entities are
referred to as TCP segments.
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CHAPTER 20 / TRANSPORT PROTOCOLS
1. Do nothing.
2. Refuse to accept further segments from the network service.
3. Use a fixed sliding-window protocol.
4. Use a credit scheme.
Alternative 1 means that the segments that overflow the buffer are discarded.
The sending transport entity, failing to get an acknowledgment, will retransmit. This is
a shame, because the advantage of a reliable network is that one never has to retrans-
mit. Furthermore, the effect of this maneuver is to exacerbate the problem.The sender
has increased its output to include new segments plus retransmitted old segments.
The second alternative is a backpressure mechanism that relies on the net-
work service to do the work. When a buffer of a transport entity is full, it refuses
additional data from the network service. This triggers flow control procedures
within the network that throttle the network service at the sending end. This service,
in turn, refuses additional segments from its transport entity. It should be clear that
this mechanism is clumsy and coarse grained. For example, if multiple transport con-
nections are multiplexed on a single network connection (virtual circuit), flow con-
trol is exercised only on the aggregate of all transport connections.
The third alternative is already familiar to you from our discussions of link
layer protocols in Chapter 7. The key ingredients, recall, are
• The use of sequence numbers on data units
• The use of a window of fixed size
• The use of acknowledgments to advance the window
With a reliable network service, the sliding-window technique would work quite
well. For example, consider a protocol with a window size of 7. When the sender
receives an acknowledgment to a particular segment, it is automatically authorized to
send the succeeding seven segments (of course, some may already have been sent).
When the receiver’s buffer capacity gets down to seven segments, it can withhold
acknowledgment of incoming segments to avoid overflow.The sending transport entity
can send at most seven additional segments and then must stop. Because the underly-
ing network service is reliable, the sender will not time out and retransmit. Thus, at
some point, a sending transport entity may have a number of segments outstanding for
which no acknowledgment has been received. Because we are dealing with a reliable
network, the sending transport entity can assume that the segments will get through
and that the lack of acknowledgment is a flow control tactic.This tactic would not work
well in an unreliable network, because the sending transport entity would not know
whether the lack of acknowledgment is due to flow control or a lost segment.
The fourth alternative, a credit scheme, provides the receiver with a greater
degree of control over data flow. Although it is not strictly necessary with a reliable
network service, a credit scheme should result in a smoother traffic flow. Further, it
is a more effective scheme with an unreliable network service, as we shall see.
The credit scheme decouples acknowledgment from flow control. In fixed slid-
ing-window protocols, such as X.25 and HDLC, the two are synonymous. In a credit
scheme, a segment may be acknowledged without granting new credit, and vice versa.
For the credit scheme, each individual octet of data that is transmitted is considered to
20.1 / CONNECTION-ORIENTED TRANSPORT PROTOCOL MECHANISMS
661
have a unique sequence number. In addition to data, each transmitted segment
includes in its header three fields related to flow control: sequence number (SN),
acknowledgment number (AN), and window (W). When a transport entity sends a
segment, it includes the sequence number of the first octet in the segment data field.
Implicitly, the remaining data octets are numbered sequentially following the first
data octet. A transport entity acknowledges an incoming segment with a return seg-
ment that includes
with the following interpretation:
1AN = i, W = j2,
• All octets through sequence number
are acknowledged; the next
SN = i - 1
expected octet has sequence number i.
• Permission is granted to send an additional window of
octets of data;
W = j
that is, the j octets corresponding to sequence numbers i through
i
+ j - 1.
Figure 20.1 illustrates the mechanism (compare Figure 7.4). For simplicity, we
show data flow in one direction only and assume that 200 octets of data are sent in
each segment. Initially, through the connection establishment process, the sending
and receiving sequence numbers are synchronized and A is granted an initial credit
allocation of 1400 octets, beginning with octet number 1001. The first segment trans-
mitted by A contains data octets numbered 1001 through 1200. After sending 600
octets in three segments, A has shrunk its window to a size of 800 octets (numbers
1601 through 2400). After B receives these three segments, 600 octets out of its orig-
inal 1400 octets of credit are accounted for, and 800 octets of credit are outstanding.
Now suppose that, at this point, B is capable of absorbing 1000 octets of incoming
data on this connection. Accordingly, B acknowledges receipt of all octets through
1600 and issues a credit of 1000 octets. This means that A can send octets 1601
Transport Entity A
Transport Entity B
...1000
1001
2400
2401
...1000
1001
2400
2401...
A may send 1400 octets
B is prepared to receive 1400 octets,
beginning with 1001
...1000
1001
1601
2401
...1600
1601
2601...
A shrinks its transmit window with each
transmission
B acknowledges 3 segments (600 octets) but is
only prepared to receive 200 additional octets
beyond the original budget (i.e., B will accept
...1000
1001
2001
2401...
octets 1601 through 2600)
...1600
1601
2001
2601...
...1600
1601
2001
2601...
A adjusts its window with each credit
...1600
1601
2600
2601...
A exhausts its credit
...2600
2601
4000
4001...
B acknowledges 5 segments (1000 octets) and
...2600
2601
4000
4001...
restores the original amount of credit
A receives new credit
Figure 20.1
Example of TCP Credit Allocation Mechanism
662
CHAPTER 20 / TRANSPORT PROTOCOLS
Octets not yet
Data octets so far acknowledged acknowledged
Window of octets
Data octets already transmitted
that may be transmitted
Initial sequence
Last octet
Last octet
Window shrinks from
Window expands
number (ISN)
acknowledged
transmitted
trailing edge as
from leading edge
(AN
1)
segments are sent
as credits are received
(a) Send sequence space
Octets not yet
Data octets so far acknowledged acknowledged
Window of octets
Data octets already received
that may be accepted
Initial sequence
Last octet
Last octet Window shrinks from
Window expands
number (ISN)
acknowledged
received
trailing edge as
from leading edge
(AN
1)
segments are received
as credits are sent
(b) Receive sequence space
Figure 20.2
Sending and Receiving Flow Control Perspectives
through 2600 (5 segments). However, by the time that B’s message has arrived at A,
A has already sent two segments, containing octets 1601 through 2000 (which was
permissible under the initial allocation). Thus, A’s remaining credit upon receipt of
B’s credit allocation is only 600 octets (3 segments). As the exchange proceeds, A
advances the trailing edge of its window each time that it transmits and advances the
leading edge only when it is granted credit.
Figure 20.2 shows the view of this mechanism from the sending and receiving
sides (compare Figure 7.3). Typically, both sides take both views because data may
be exchanged in both directions. Note that the receiver is not required to immedi-
ately acknowledge incoming segments but may wait and issue a cumulative
acknowledgment for a number of segments.
The receiver needs to adopt some policy concerning the amount of data it per-
mits the sender to transmit. The conservative approach is to only allow new seg-
ments up to the limit of available buffer space. If this policy were in effect in Figure
20.1, the first credit message implies that B has 1000 available octets in its buffer,
and the second message that B has 1400 available octets.
A conservative flow control scheme may limit the throughput of the transport
connection in long-delay situations. The receiver could potentially increase through-
put by optimistically granting credit for space it does not have. For example, if a
receiver’s buffer is full but it anticipates that it can release space for 1000 octets
within a round-trip propagation time, it could immediately send a credit of 1000. If
20.1 / CONNECTION-ORIENTED TRANSPORT PROTOCOL MECHANISMS
663
the receiver can keep up with the sender, this scheme may increase throughput and
can do no harm. If the sender is faster than the receiver, however, some segments
may be discarded, necessitating a retransmission. Because retransmissions are not
otherwise necessary with a reliable network service (in the absence of internet con-
gestion), an optimistic flow control scheme will complicate the protocol.
Connection Establishment and Termination Even with a reliable network
service, there is a need for connection establishment and termination procedures to
support connection-oriented service. Connection establishment serves three main
purposes:
• It allows each end to assure that the other exists.
• It allows exchange or negotiation of optional parameters (e.g., maximum seg-
ment size, maximum window size, quality of service).
• It triggers allocation of transport entity resources (e.g., buffer space, entry in
connection table).
Connection establishment is by mutual agreement and can be accomplished by a
simple set of user commands and control segments, as shown in the state diagram of
Figure 20.3. To begin, a TS user is in an CLOSED state (i.e., it has no open transport
connection). The TS user can signal to the local TCP entity that it will passively wait for
Active open
Send SYN
Passive open
CLOSED
Close
Close
SYN SENT
LISTEN
Receive SYN
Send SYN
Receive SYN
ESTAB
Close
Receive FIN
Send FIN
Legend:
Event
Action
FIN WAIT
CLOSE WAIT
State
Close
Send FIN
Receive FIN
CLOSED
Figure 20.3
Simple Connection State Diagram
664
CHAPTER 20 / TRANSPORT PROTOCOLS
a request with a Passive Open command. A server program, such as time-sharing or a
file transfer application, might do this. The TS user may change its mind by sending a
Close command. After the Passive Open command is issued, the transport entity cre-
ates a connection object of some sort (i.e., a table entry) that is in the LISTEN state.
From the CLOSED state, a TS user may open a connection by issuing an Active
Open command, which instructs the transport entity to attempt connection establish-
ment with a designated remote TS user, which triggers the transport entity to send a
SYN (for synchronize) segment. This segment is carried to the receiving transport
entity and interpreted as a request for connection to a particular port. If the destina-
tion transport entity is in the LISTEN state for that port, then a connection is estab-
lished by the following actions by the receiving transport entity:
• Signal the local TS user that a connection is open.
• Send a SYN as confirmation to the remote transport entity.
• Put the connection object in an ESTAB (established) state.
When the responding SYN is received by the initiating transport entity, it too
can move the connection to an ESTAB state. The connection is prematurely aborted
if either TS user issues a Close command.
Figure 20.4 shows the robustness of this protocol. Either side can initiate a
connection. Further, if both sides initiate the connection at about the same time, it is
established without confusion. This is because the SYN segment functions both as a
connection request and a connection acknowledgment.
The reader may ask what happens if a SYN comes in while the requested TS
user is idle (not listening). Three courses may be followed:
• The transport entity can reject the request by sending a RST (reset) segment
back to the other transport entity.
• The request can be queued until the local TS user issues a matching Open.
• The transport entity can interrupt or otherwise signal the local TS user to
notify it of a pending request.
System A
System B
System A
System B
State/(command)
State/(command)
State/(command)
State/(command)
CLOSED
CLOSED
CLOSED
CLOSED
(Passive open)
(Active open)
(Active open)
(Active open)
LISTEN
SYN SENT
SYN SENT
SYN SENT
ESTAB
ESTAB
ESTAB
ESTAB
(a) Active/passive open
(b) Active/active open
Figure 20.4
Connection Establishment Scenarios
20.1 / CONNECTION-ORIENTED TRANSPORT PROTOCOL MECHANISMS
665
Note that if the third mechanism is used, a Passive Open command is not
strictly necessary but may be replaced by an Accept command, which is a signal
from the user to the transport entity that it accepts the request for connection.
Connection termination is handled similarly. Either side, or both sides, may
initiate a close. The connection is closed by mutual agreement. This strategy
allows for either abrupt or graceful termination.With abrupt termination, data in
transit may be lost; a graceful termination prevents either side from closing the
connection until all data have been delivered. To achieve the latter, a connection
in the FIN WAIT state must continue to accept data segments until a FIN (finish)
segment is received.
Figure 20.3 defines the procedure for graceful termination. First, consider the
side that initiates the termination procedure:
1. In response to a TS user’s Close primitive, a transport entity sends a FIN seg-
ment to the other side of the connection, requesting termination.
2. Having sent the FIN, the transport entity places the connection in the FIN WAIT
state. In this state, the transport entity must continue to accept data from the
other side and deliver that data to its user.
3. When a FIN is received in response, the transport entity informs its user and
closes the connection.
From the point of view of the side that does not initiate a termination,
1. When a FIN segment is received, the transport entity informs its user of the
termination request and places the connection in the CLOSE WAIT state. In
this state, the transport entity must continue to accept data from its user and
transmit it in data segments to the other side.
2. When the user issues a Close primitive, the transport entity sends a responding
FIN segment to the other side and closes the connection.
This procedure ensures that both sides have received all outstanding data and
that both sides agree to connection termination before actual termination.
Unreliable Network Service
A more difficult case for a transport protocol is that of an unreliable network ser-
vice. Examples of such networks are as follows:
• An internetwork using IP
• A frame relay network using only the LAPF core protocol
• An IEEE 802.3 LAN using the unacknowledged connectionless LLC service
The problem is not just that segments are occasionally lost, but that seg-
ments may arrive out of sequence due to variable transit delays. As we shall see,
elaborate machinery is required to cope with these two interrelated network defi-
ciencies.We shall also see that a discouraging pattern emerges.The combination of
unreliability and nonsequencing creates problems with every mechanism we have
discussed so far. Generally, the solution to each problem raises new problems.
Although there are problems to be overcome for protocols at all levels, it seems
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CHAPTER 20 / TRANSPORT PROTOCOLS
that there are more difficulties with a reliable connection-oriented transport pro-
tocol than any other sort of protocol.
In the remainder of this section, unless otherwise noted, the mechanisms dis-
cussed are those used by TCP. Seven issues need to be addressed:
• Ordered delivery
• Retransmission strategy
• Duplicate detection
• Flow control
• Connection establishment
• Connection termination
• Failure recovery
Ordered Delivery With an unreliable network service, it is possible that seg-
ments, even if they are all delivered, may arrive out of order.The required solution
to this problem is to number segments sequentially. We have seen that for data
link control protocols, such as HDLC, and for X.25, each data unit (frame, packet)
is numbered sequentially with each successive sequence number being one more
than the previous sequence number.This scheme is used in some transport proto-
cols, such as the ISO transport protocols. However,TCP uses a somewhat different
scheme in which each data octet that is transmitted is implicitly numbered. Thus,
the first segment may have a sequence number of 1. If that segment has 200 octets
of data, then the second segment would have the sequence number 201, and so on.
For simplicity in the discussions of this section, we will continue to assume that
each successive segment’s sequence number is 200 more than that of the previous
segment; that is, each segment contains exactly 200 octets of data.
Retransmission Strategy Two events necessitate the retransmission of a seg-
ment. First, a segment may be damaged in transit but nevertheless arrive at its des-
tination. If a checksum is included with the segment, the receiving transport entity
can detect the error and discard the segment.The second contingency is that a seg-
ment fails to arrive. In either case, the sending transport entity does not know that
the segment transmission was unsuccessful. To cover this contingency, a positive
acknowledgment scheme is used:The receiver must acknowledge each successfully
received segment by returning a segment containing an acknowledgment number.
For efficiency, we do not require one acknowledgment per segment. Rather, a
cumulative acknowledgment can be used, as we have seen many times in this book.
Thus, the receiver may receive segments numbered 1, 201, and 401, but only send
back. The sender must interpret
to mean that the segment
AN = 601
AN = 601
with
and all previous segments have been successfully received.
SN = 401
If a segment does not arrive successfully, no acknowledgment will be issued
and a retransmission is in order. To cope with this situation, there must be a timer
associated with each segment as it is sent. If the timer expires before the segment is
acknowledged, the sender must retransmit.
So the addition of a timer solves that problem. Next problem: At what value
should the timer be set? Two strategies suggest themselves. A fixed timer value could
20.1 / CONNECTION-ORIENTED TRANSPORT PROTOCOL MECHANISMS
667
be used, based on an understanding of the network’s typical behavior. This suffers
from an inability to respond to changing network conditions. If the value is too small,
there will be many unnecessary retransmissions, wasting network capacity. If the
value is too large, the protocol will be sluggish in responding to a lost segment. The
timer should be set at a value a bit longer than the round trip time (send segment,
receive ACK). Of course, this delay is variable even under constant network load.
Worse, the statistics of the delay will vary with changing network conditions.
An adaptive scheme has its own problems. Suppose that the transport entity
keeps track of the time taken to acknowledge data segments and sets its
retransmission timer based on the average of the observed delays. This value cannot
be trusted for three reasons:
• The peer transport entity may not acknowledge a segment immediately. Recall
that we gave it the privilege of cumulative acknowledgments.
• If a segment has been retransmitted, the sender cannot know whether the
received acknowledgment is a response to the initial transmission or the
retransmission.
• Network conditions may change suddenly.
Each of these problems is a cause for some further tweaking of the transport algo-
rithm, but the problem admits of no complete solution. There will always be some
uncertainty concerning the best value for the retransmission timer. We return to this
issue in Section 20.3.
Incidentally, the retransmission timer is only one of a number of timers needed
for proper functioning of a transport protocol. These are listed in Table 20.1,
together with a brief explanation.
Duplicate Detection If a segment is lost and then retransmitted, no confusion
will result. If, however, one or more segments in sequence are successfully delivered,
but the corresponding ACK is lost, then the sending transport entity will time out and
one or more segments will be retransmitted. If these retransmitted segments arrive
successfully, they will be duplicates of previously received segments. Thus, the
receiver must be able to recognize duplicates. The fact that each segment carries a
sequence number helps, but, nevertheless, duplicate detection and handling is not
simple. There are two cases:
• A duplicate is received prior to the close of the connection.
• A duplicate is received after the close of the connection.
Table 20.1
Transport Protocol Timers
Retransmission timer
Retransmit an unacknowledged segment
2MSL (maximum segment
Minimum time between closing one connection and
lifetime) timer
opening another with the same destination address
Persist timer
Maximum time between ACK/CREDIT segments
Retransmit-SYN timer
Time between attempts to open a connection
Keepalive timer
Abort connection when no segments are received
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CHAPTER 20 / TRANSPORT PROTOCOLS
The second case is discussed in the subsection on connection establishment.
We deal with the first case here.
Notice that we say “a” duplicate rather than “the” duplicate. From the sender’s
point of view, the retransmitted segment is the duplicate. However, the retransmit-
ted segment may arrive before the original segment, in which case the receiver
views the original segment as the duplicate. In any case, two tactics are needed to
cope with a duplicate received prior to the close of a connection:
• The receiver must assume that its acknowledgment was lost and therefore
must acknowledge the duplicate. Consequently, the sender must not get con-
fused if it receives multiple acknowledgments to the same segment.
• The sequence number space must be long enough so as not to “cycle” in less than
the maximum possible segment lifetime (time it takes segment to transit network).
Figure 20.5 illustrates the reason for the latter requirement. In this example, the
sequence space is of length 1600; that is, after
the sequence numbers cycle
SN = 1600,
back and begin with
For simplicity, we assume the receiving transport entity
SN = 1.
maintains a credit window size of 600. Suppose that A has transmitted data segments
with
201, and 401. B has received the two segments with
and
SN = 1,
SN = 201
but the segment with
is delayed in transit. Thus, B does not send
SN = 401,
SN = 1
any acknowledgments. Eventually, A times out and retransmits segment
SN = 1.
When the duplicate segment
arrives, B acknowledges 1, 201, and 401 with
SN = 1
Meanwhile, A has timed out again and retransmits
which B
AN = 601.
SN = 201,
acknowledges with another
Things now seem to have sorted themselves
AN = 601.
out and data transfer continues. When the sequence space is exhausted, A cycles back
to
and continues. Alas, the old segment
makes a belated appearance
SN = 1
SN = 1
and is accepted by B before the new segment
arrives. When the new segment
SN = 1
SN = 1 does arrive, it is treated as a duplicate and discarded.
It should be clear that the untimely emergence of the old segment would
have caused no difficulty if the sequence numbers had not yet wrapped around.
The larger the sequence number space (number of bits used to represent the
sequence number), the longer the wraparound is avoided. How big must the
sequence space be? This depends on, among other things, whether the network
enforces a maximum packet lifetime, and the rate at which segments are being
transmitted. Fortunately, each addition of a single bit to the sequence number
field doubles the sequence space, so it is rather easy to select a safe size.
Flow Control The credit allocation flow control mechanism described earlier is
quite robust in the face of an unreliable network service and requires little enhance-
ment. As was mentioned, a segment containing
acknowledges all
1AN = i, W = j2
octets through number
i
- 1
and grants credit for an additional j octets beginning
with octet i. The credit allocation mechanism is quite flexible. For example, suppose
that the last octet of data received by B was octet number
i
- 1
and that the last
segment issued by B was
1AN = i, W = j2.
Then
• To increase credit to an amount
k 1k 7 j2
when no additional data have
arrived, B issues 1AN = i, W = k2.
• To acknowledge an incoming segment containing m octets of data 1m 6 j2
without granting additional credit, B issues 1AN = i + m, W = j - m2.
20.1 / CONNECTION-ORIENTED TRANSPORT PROTOCOL MECHANISMS
669
Transport
Transport
Entity A
Entity B
A times out and
retransmits SN
1
A times out and
retransmits SN
201
Obsolete SN
1
arrives
Figure 20.5
Example of Incorrect Duplicate Detection
If an ACK/CREDIT segment is lost, little harm is done. Future acknowledg-
ments will resynchronize the protocol. Further, if no new acknowledgments are
forthcoming, the sender times out and retransmits a data segment, which triggers a
new acknowledgment. However, it is still possible for deadlock to occur. Consider a
situation in which B sends
temporarily closing the window. Sub-
1AN = i, W = 02,
sequently, B sends
but this segment is lost. A is awaiting the
1AN = i, W = j2,
opportunity to send data and B thinks that it has granted that opportunity. To over-
come this problem, a persist timer can be used. This timer is reset with each outgoing
segment (all segments contain the AN and W fields). If the timer ever expires, the
protocol entity is required to send a segment, even if it duplicates a previous one. This
breaks the deadlock and assures the other end that the protocol entity is still alive.
670
CHAPTER 20 / TRANSPORT PROTOCOLS
Connection Establishment As with other protocol mechanisms, connection estab-
lishment must take into account the unreliability of a network service. Recall that a con-
nection establishment calls for the exchange of SYNs, a procedure sometimes referred
to as a two-way handshake. Suppose that A issues a SYN to B. It expects to get a SYN
back, confirming the connection. Two things can go wrong: A’s SYN can be lost or B’s
answering SYN can be lost. Both cases can be handled by use of a retransmit-SYN timer
(Table 20.1). After A issues a SYN, it will reissue the SYN when the timer expires.
This gives rise, potentially, to duplicate SYNs. If A’s initial SYN was lost, there
are no duplicates. If B’s response was lost, then B may receive two SYNs from A.
Further, if B’s response was not lost, but simply delayed, A may get two responding
SYNs. All of this means that A and B must simply ignore duplicate SYNs once a
connection is established.
There are other problems to contend with. Just as a delayed SYN or lost response
can give rise to a duplicate SYN, a delayed data segment or lost acknowledgment can
give rise to duplicate data segments, as we have seen in Figure 20.5. Such a delayed or
duplicated data segment can interfere with data transfer, as illustrated in Figure 20.6.
A
B
A initiates a connection
B accepts and acknowledges
A begins transmission
Connection closed
New connection opened
Obsolete segment SN
401 is accepted;
valid segment SN
401 is discarded as duplicate
Figure 20.6
The Two-Way Handshake: Problem with Obsolete Data
Segment
20.1 / CONNECTION-ORIENTED TRANSPORT PROTOCOL MECHANISMS
671
A
B
Connection closed
Obsolete SYN i arrives
B responds; A sends new SYN
B discards duplicate SYN
B rejects segment as out of sequence
Figure 20.7
Two-Way Handshake: Problem with Obsolete SYN Segments
Assume that with each new connection, each transport protocol entity begins number-
ing its data segments with sequence number 1. In the figure, a duplicate copy of segment
SN = 401 from an old connection arrives during the lifetime of a new connection and
is delivered to B before delivery of the legitimate data segment
One way of
SN = 401.
attacking this problem is to start each new connection with a different sequence number
that is far removed from the last sequence number of the most recent connection. For
this purpose, the connection request is of the form SYN
where i is the sequence
i
+ 1,
number of the first data segment that will be sent on this connection.
Now consider that a duplicate SYN i may survive past the termination of the
connection. Figure 20.7 depicts the problem that may arise. An old SYN i arrives
at B after the connection is terminated. B assumes that this is a fresh request and
responds with SYN j, meaning that B accepts the connection request and will begin
transmitting with
Meanwhile, A has decided to open a new connec-
SN = j + 1.
tion with B and sends SYN k. B discards this as a duplicate. Now both sides have
transmitted and subsequently received a SYN segment, and therefore think that a
valid connection exists. However, when A initiates data transfer with a segment
numbered
B rejects the segment as being out of sequence.
k + 1.
The way out of this problem is for each side to acknowledge explicitly the
other’s SYN and sequence number. The procedure is known as a three-way hand-
shake.The revised connection state diagram, which is the one employed by TCP, is
shown in the upper part of Figure 20.8. A new state (SYN RECEIVED) is added.
In this state, the transport entity hesitates during connection opening to assure that
the SYN segments sent by the two sides have both been acknowledged before the
connection is declared established. In addition to the new state, there is a control
segment (RST) to reset the other side when a duplicate SYN is detected.
Figure 20.9 illustrates typical three-way handshake operations. In Figure 20.9a,
transport entity A initiates the connection, with a SYN including the sending
672
CHAPTER 20 / TRANSPORT PROTOCOLS
Active open or
Unspecified passive open or
active open with data
fully specified passive open
Initialize SV; send SYN
Initialize SV
CLOSED
Close
Close
Clear SV
Clear SV
SYN SENT
SYN RECEIVED
LISTEN
Receive SYN
Receive SYN
Send SYN, ACK
Send SYN, ACK
Receive
ACK of SYN
Receive SYN, ACK
Receive FIN, ACK of SYN
Send ACK
Send ACK
ESTAB
Close
Receive FIN
Send FIN
Send ACK
FIN WAIT
CLOSE WAIT
Receive
Receive FIN
Close
ACK of FIN
Send ACK
Send FIN
FIN WAIT2
CLOSING
LAST ACK
Receive FIN, ACK
Receive
Receive
Send ACK
ACK of FIN
ACK of SYN
Receive FIN
Send ACK
TIME WAIT
CLOSED
Timeout
(2 MSL)
SV
= state vector
MSL = maximum segment lifetime
Figure 20.8
TCP Entity State Diagram
sequence number, i. The value i is referred to as the initial sequence number (ISN)
and is associated with the SYN; the first data octet to be transmitted will have
sequence number
The responding SYN acknowledges the ISN with
i
+ 1.
1AN = i + 12 and includes its ISN. A acknowledges B’s SYN/ACK in its first data
segment, which begins with sequence number
Figure 20.9b shows a situation
i
+ 1.
in which an old SYN i arrives at B after the close of the relevant connection. B
assumes that this is a fresh request and responds with SYN j,
When A
AN = i + 1.
receives this message, it realizes that it has not requested a connection and therefore
sends an RST,
Note that the
portion of the RST message is essen-
AN = j.
AN = j
tial so that an old duplicate RST does not abort a legitimate connection establish-
ment. Figure 20.9c shows a case in which an old SYN/ACK arrives in the middle of
20.1 / CONNECTION-ORIENTED TRANSPORT PROTOCOL MECHANISMS
673
A
B
A initiates a connection
B accepts and acknowledges
A acknowledges and begins transmission
(a) Normal operation
Obsolete SYN arrives
B accepts and acknowledges
A rejects B's connection
(b) Delayed SYN
A initiates a connection
Old SYN arrives at A; A rejects
B accepts and acknowledges
A acknowledges and begins transmission
(c) Delayed SYN, ACK
Figure 20.9
Examples of Three-Way Handshake
a new connection establishment. Because of the use of sequence numbers in the
acknowledgments, this event causes no mischief.
For simplicity, the upper part of Figure 20.8 does not include transitions in which
RST is sent. The basic rule is as follows: Send an RST if the connection state is not yet
OPEN and an invalid ACK (one that does not reference something that was sent) is
received. The reader should try various combinations of events to see that this connec-
tion establishment procedure works in spite of any combination of old and lost segments.
Connection Termination The state diagram of Figure 20.3 defines the use of a
simple two-way handshake for connection establishment, which was found to be unsat-
isfactory in the face of an unreliable network service. Similarly, the two-way handshake
674
CHAPTER 20 / TRANSPORT PROTOCOLS
defined in that diagram for connection termination is inadequate for an unreliable net-
work service. Misordering of segments could cause the following scenario. A transport
entity in the CLOSE WAIT state sends its last data segment, followed by a FIN seg-
ment, but the FIN segment arrives at the other side before the last data segment. The
receiving transport entity will accept that FIN, close the connection, and lose the last
segment of data. To avoid this problem, a sequence number can be associated with the
FIN, which can be assigned the next sequence number after the last octet of transmit-
ted data. With this refinement, the receiving transport entity, upon receiving a FIN, will
wait if necessary for the late-arriving data before closing the connection.
A more serious problem is the potential loss of segments and the potential pres-
ence of obsolete segments. Figure 20.8 shows that the termination procedure adopts a
similar solution to that used for connection establishment. Each side must explicitly
acknowledge the FIN of the other, using an ACK with the sequence number of the
FIN to be acknowledged. For a graceful close, a transport entity requires the following:
• It must send a FIN i and receive
AN = i + 1.
• It must receive a FIN j and send
AN = j + 1.
• It must wait an interval equal to twice the maximum expected segment lifetime.
Failure Recovery When the system upon which a transport entity is running
fails and subsequently restarts, the state information of all active connections is lost.
The affected connections become half open because the side that did not fail does
not yet realize the problem.
The still active side of a half-open connection can close the connection using a
keepalive timer. This timer measures the time the transport machine will continue to
await an acknowledgment (or other appropriate reply) of a transmitted segment after
the segment has been retransmitted the maximum number of times. When the timer
expires, the transport entity assumes that the other transport entity or the intervening
network has failed, closes the connection, and signals an abnormal close to the TS user.
In the event that a transport entity fails and quickly restarts, half-open connec-
tions can be terminated more quickly by the use of the RST segment. The failed side
returns an RST i to every segment i that it receives. When the RST i reaches the
other side, it must be checked for validity based on the sequence number i, because
the RST could be in response to an old segment. If the reset is valid, the transport
entity performs an abnormal termination.
These measures clean up the situation at the transport level. The decision as
to whether to reopen the connection is up to the TS users. The problem is one of
synchronization.At the time of failure, there may have been one or more outstand-
ing segments in either direction. The TS user on the side that did not fail knows
how much data it has received, but the other user may not, if state information
were lost. Thus, there is the danger that some user data will be lost or duplicated.
20.2 TCP
In this section we look at TCP (RFC 793), first at the service it provides to the TS
user and then at the internal protocol details.
20.2 / TCP
675
TCP Services
TCP is designed to provide reliable communication between pairs of processes
(TCP users) across a variety of reliable and unreliable networks and internets. TCP
provides two useful facilities for labeling data: push and urgent:
• Data stream push: Ordinarily, TCP decides when sufficient data have accu-
mulated to form a segment for transmission.The TCP user can require TCP
to transmit all outstanding data up to and including that labeled with a push
flag. On the receiving end, TCP will deliver these data to the user in the
same manner. A user might request this if it has come to a logical break in
the data.
• Urgent data signaling: This provides a means of informing the destination
TCP user that significant or “urgent” data is in the upcoming data stream. It is
up to the destination user to determine appropriate action.
As with IP, the services provided by TCP are defined in terms of primitives and
parameters. The services provided by TCP are considerably richer than those provided
by IP, and hence the set of primitives and parameters is more complex. Table 20.2 lists
TCP service request primitives, which are issued by a TCP user to TCP, and Table 20.3
lists TCP service response primitives, which are issued by TCP to a local TCP user.
Table 20.2
TCP Service Request Primitives
Primitive
Parameters
Description
Unspecified
source-port, [timeout], [timeout-action],
Listen for connection attempt at
Passive Open
[precedence], [security-range]
specified security and precedence
from any remote destination.
Fully Specified
source-port, destination-port, destination-
Listen for connection attempt at specified
Passive Open
address, [timeout], [timeout-action],
security and precedence from specified
[precedence], [security-range]
destination.
Active Open
source-port, destination-port, destination-
Request connection at a particular
address, [timeout], [timeout-action],
security and precedence to a specified
[precedence], [security]
destination.
Active Open
source-port, destination-port, destination-
Request connection at a particular
with Data
address, [timeout], [timeout-action],
security and precedence to a specified
[precedence], [security], data, data-length,
destination and transmit data with the
PUSH-flag, URGENT-flag
request.
Send
local-connection-name, data, data-length,
Transfer data across named connection.
PUSH-flag, URGENT-flag, [timeout],
[timeout-action]
Allocate
local-connection-name, data-length
Issue incremental allocation for receive
data to TCP.
Close
local-connection-name
Close connection gracefully.
Abort
local-connection-name
Close connection abruptly.
Status
local-connection-name
Query connection status.
Note: Square brackets indicate optional parameters.
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CHAPTER 20 / TRANSPORT PROTOCOLS
Table 20.3
TCP Service Response Primitives
Primitive
Parameters
Description
Open ID
local-connection-name, source-port,
Informs TCP user of connection name
…
destination-port,… destination-address
assigned to pending connection
requested in an Open primitive
Open Failure
local-connection-name
Reports failure of an Active Open request
Open Success
local-connection-name
Reports completion of pending Open request
Deliver
local-connection-name, data, data-length,
Reports arrival of data
URGENT-flag
Closing
local-connection-name
Reports that remote TCP user has issued a
Close and that all data sent by remote user
has been delivered
Terminate
local-connection-name, description
Reports that the connection has been termi-
nated; a description of the reason for
termination is provided
Status
local-connection-name, source-port,
Reports current status of connection
Response
source-address, destination-port,
destination-address, connection-state,
receive-window, send-window, amount-
awaiting-ACK, amount-awaiting-receipt,
urgent-state, precedence, security, timeout
Error
local-connection-name, description
Reports service-request or internal error
…
= Not used for Unspecified Passive Open.
Table 20.4 provides a brief definition of the parameters involved. The two passive
open commands signal the TCP user’s willingness to accept a connection request. The
active open with data allows the user to begin transmitting data with the opening of
the connection.
TCP Header Format
TCP uses only a single type of protocol data unit, called a TCP segment. The header
is shown in Figure 20.10. Because one header must serve to perform all protocol
mechanisms, it is rather large, with a minimum length of 20 octets. The fields are as
follows:
• Source Port (16 bits): Source TCP user. Example values are Telnet
23;
assignments/port-numbers.
• Destination Port (16 bits): Destination TCP user.
• Sequence Number (32 bits): Sequence number of the first data octet in this
segment except when the SYN flag is set. If SYN is set, this field contains the
initial sequence number (ISN) and the first data octet in this segment has
sequence number ISN + 1.
20.2 / TCP
677
Table 20.4
TCP Service Parameters
Source Port
Local TCP user
Timeout
Longest delay allowed for data delivery before automatic connection termi-
nation or error report; user specified
Timeout-action
Indicates whether the connection is terminated or an error is reported to the
TCP user in the event of a timeout
Precedence
Precedence level for a connection. Takes on values zero (lowest) through
seven (highest); same parameter as defined for IP
Security-range
Allowed ranges in compartment, handling restrictions, transmission control
codes, and security levels
Destination Port
Remote TCP user
Destination Address
Internet address of remote host
Security
Security information for a connection, including security level, compartment,
handling restrictions, and transmission control code; same parameter as
defined for IP
Data
Block of data sent by TCP user or delivered to a TCP user
Data Length
Length of block of data sent or delivered
PUSH flag
If set, indicates that the associated data are to be provided with the data
stream push service
URGENT flag
If set, indicates that the associated data are to be provided with the urgent
data signaling service
Local Connection Name
Identifier of a connection defined by a (local socket, remote socket) pair;
provided by TCP
Description
Supplementary information in a Terminate or Error primitive
Source Address
Internet address of the local host
Connection State
State of referenced connection (CLOSED, ACTIVE OPEN, PASSIVE
OPEN, ESTABLISHED, CLOSING)
Receive Window
Amount of data in octets the local TCP entity is willing to receive
Send Window
Amount of data in octets permitted to be sent to remote TCP entity
Amount Awaiting ACK
Amount of previously transmitted data awaiting acknowledgment
Amount Awaiting Receipt
Amount of data in octets buffered at local TCP entity pending receipt by
local TCP user
Urgent State
Indicates to the receiving TCP user whether there are urgent data available
or whether all urgent data, if any, have been delivered to the user
• Acknowledgment Number (32 bits): Contains the sequence number of the
next data octet that the TCP entity expects to receive.
• Data Offset (4 bits): Number of 32-bit words in the header.
• Reserved (4 bits): Reserved for future use.
• Flags (6 bits): For each flag, if set to 1, the meaning is
CWR: congestion window reduced.
ECE: ECN-Echo; the CWR and ECE bits, defined in RFC 3168, are used for
the explicit congestion notification function; a discussion of this function is
beyond our scope.
URG: urgent pointer field significant.
Bit:
0
4
8
16
31
Source Port
Destination Port
Sequence Number
Acknowledgment Number
C
E
U
A
P
R
S
F
Data
Reserved
W
C
R
C
S
S
Y
I
Window
offset
R
E
G
K
H
T
N
N
Checksum
Urgent Pointer
Options Padding
Figure 20.10
TCP Header
20.2 / TCP
679
ACK: acknowledgment field significant.
PSH: push function.
RST: reset the connection.
SYN: synchronize the sequence numbers.
FIN: no more data from sender.
• Window (16 bits): Flow control credit allocation, in octets. Contains the num-
ber of data octets, beginning with the sequence number indicated in the
acknowledgment field that the sender is willing to accept.
• Checksum (16 bits): The ones complement of the ones complement sum of all
the 16-bit words in the segment plus a pseudoheader, described subsequently.2
• Urgent Pointer (16 bits): This value, when added to the segment sequence
number, contains the sequence number of the last octet in a sequence of
urgent data. This allows the receiver to know how much urgent data is coming.
• Options (Variable): An example is the option that specifies the maximum seg-
ment size that will be accepted.
The Sequence Number and Acknowledgment Number are bound to octets
rather than to entire segments. For example, if a segment contains sequence num-
ber 1001 and includes 600 octets of data, the sequence number refers to the first
octet in the data field; the next segment in logical order will have sequence num-
ber 1601.Thus,TCP is logically stream oriented: It accepts a stream of octets from
the user, groups them into segments as it sees fit, and numbers each octet in the
stream.
The Checksum field applies to the entire segment plus a pseudoheader pre-
fixed to the header at the time of calculation (at both transmission and reception).
The pseudoheader includes the following fields from the IP header: source and des-
tination internet address and protocol, plus a segment length field. By including the
pseudoheader, TCP protects itself from misdelivery by IP. That is, if IP delivers a
packet to the wrong host, even if the packet contains no bit errors, the receiving TCP
entity will detect the delivery error.
By comparing the TCP header to the TCP user interface defined in Tables 20.2
and 20.3, the reader may feel that some items are missing from the TCP header; that
is indeed the case. TCP is intended to work with IP. Hence, some TCP user parame-
ters are passed down by TCP to IP for inclusion in the IP header. The precedence
parameter can be mapped into the DS (Differentiated Services) field, and the secu-
rity parameter into the optional security field in the IP header.
It is worth observing that this TCP/IP linkage means that the required mini-
mum overhead for every data unit is actually 40 octets.
TCP Mechanisms
We can group TCP mechanisms into the categories of connection establishment,
data transfer, and connection termination.
2A discussion of this checksum is contained in Appendix K.
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CHAPTER 20 / TRANSPORT PROTOCOLS
Connection Establishment Connection establishment in TCP always uses a
three-way handshake. When the SYN flag is set, the segment is essentially a request
for connection and functions as explained in Section 20.1. To initiate a connection,
an entity sends a SYN,
where X is the initial sequence number. The
SN = X,
receiver responds with SYN,
by setting both the SYN and
SN = Y, AN = X + 1
ACK flags. Note that the acknowledgment indicates that the receiver is now expect-
ing to receive a segment beginning with data octet
acknowledging the SYN,
X + 1,
which occupies
Finally, the initiator responds with
If the
SN = X.
AN = Y + 1.
two sides issue crossing SYNs, no problem results: Both sides respond with
SYN/ACKs (Figure 20.4).
A connection is uniquely determined by the source and destination sockets
(host, port). Thus, at any one time, there can only be a single TCP connection
between a unique pair of ports. However, a given port can support multiple connec-
tions, each with a different partner port.
Data Transfer Although data are transferred in segments over a transport con-
nection, data transfer is viewed logically as consisting of a stream of octets. Hence
every octet is numbered, modulo
Each segment contains the sequence number
232.
of the first octet in the data field. Flow control is exercised using a credit allocation
scheme in which the credit is a number of octets rather than a number of segments,
as explained in Section 20.1.
Data are buffered by the transport entity on both transmission and reception.
TCP normally exercises its own discretion as to when to construct a segment for
transmission and when to release received data to the user. The PUSH flag is used to
force the data so far accumulated to be sent by the transmitter and passed on by the
receiver. This serves an end-of-block function.
The user may specify a block of data as urgent. TCP will designate the end of
that block with an urgent pointer and send it out in the ordinary data stream. The
receiving user is alerted that urgent data are being received.
If, during data exchange, a segment arrives that is apparently not meant for the
current connection, the RST flag is set on an outgoing segment. Examples of this sit-
uation are delayed duplicate SYNs and an acknowledgment of data not yet sent.
Connection Termination The normal means of terminating a connection is a
graceful close. Each TCP user must issue a CLOSE primitive. The transport entity
sets the FIN bit on the last segment that it sends out, which also contains the last of
the data to be sent on this connection.
An abrupt termination occurs if the user issues an ABORT primitive. In this
case, the entity abandons all attempts to send or receive data and discards data in its
transmission and reception buffers. An RST segment is sent to the other side.
TCP Implementation Policy Options
The TCP standard provides a precise specification of the protocol to be used
between TCP entities. However, certain aspects of the protocol admit several possi-
ble implementation options. Although two implementations that choose alternative
options will be interoperable, there may be performance implications. The design
areas for which options are specified are the following:
20.2 / TCP
681
• Send policy
• Deliver policy
• Accept policy
• Retransmit policy
• Acknowledge policy
Send Policy In the absence of both pushed data and a closed transmission win-
dow (see Figure 20.2a), a sending TCP entity is free to transmit data at its own con-
venience, within its current credit allocation. As data are issued by the user, they are
buffered in the transmit buffer. TCP may construct a segment for each batch of data
provided by its user or it may wait until a certain amount of data accumulates before
constructing and sending a segment. The actual policy will depend on performance
considerations. If transmissions are infrequent and large, there is low overhead in
terms of segment generation and processing. On the other hand, if transmissions are
frequent and small, the system is providing quick response.
Deliver Policy In the absence of a Push, a receiving TCP entity is free to deliver
data to the user at its own convenience. It may deliver data as each in-order segment
is received, or it may buffer data from a number of segments in the receive buffer
before delivery. The actual policy will depend on performance considerations. If
deliveries are infrequent and large, the user is not receiving data as promptly as may
be desirable. On the other hand, if deliveries are frequent and small, there may be
unnecessary processing both in TCP and in the user software, as well as an unneces-
sary number of operating system interrupts.
Accept Policy When all data segments arrive in order over a TCP connection,
TCP places the data in a receive buffer for delivery to the user. It is possible, how-
ever, for segments to arrive out of order. In this case, the receiving TCP entity has
two options:
• In-order: Accept only segments that arrive in order; any segment that arrives
out of order is discarded.
• In-window: Accept all segments that are within the receive window (see
Figure 20.2b).
The in-order policy makes for a simple implementation but places a burden on
the networking facility, as the sending TCP must time out and retransmit segments
that were successfully received but discarded because of misordering. Furthermore,
if a single segment is lost in transit, then all subsequent segments must be retrans-
mitted once the sending TCP times out on the lost segment.
The in-window policy may reduce transmissions but requires a more complex
acceptance test and a more sophisticated data storage scheme to buffer and keep
track of data accepted out of order.
Retransmit Policy TCP maintains a queue of segments that have been sent but
not yet acknowledged. The TCP specification states that TCP will retransmit a seg-
ment if it fails to receive an acknowledgment within a given time. A TCP implemen-
tation may employ one of three retransmission strategies:
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CHAPTER 20 / TRANSPORT PROTOCOLS
• First-only: Maintain one retransmission timer for the entire queue. If an
acknowledgment is received, remove the appropriate segment or segments
from the queue and reset the timer. If the timer expires, retransmit the seg-
ment at the front of the queue and reset the timer.
• Batch: Maintain one retransmission timer for the entire queue. if an acknowl-
edgment is received, remove the appropriate segment or segments from the
queue and reset the timer. If the timer expires, retransmit all segments in the
queue and reset the timer.
• Individual: Maintain one timer for each segment in the queue. If an acknowl-
edgment is received, remove the appropriate segment or segments from the
queue and destroy the corresponding timer or timers. If any timer expires,
retransmit the corresponding segment individually and reset its timer.
The first-only policy is efficient in terms of traffic generated, because only lost
segments (or segments whose ACK was lost) are retransmitted. Because the timer
for the second segment in the queue is not set until the first segment is acknowl-
edged, however, there can be considerable delays. The individual policy solves this
problem at the expense of a more complex implementation. The batch policy also
reduces the likelihood of long delays but may result in unnecessary retransmissions.
The actual effectiveness of the retransmit policy depends in part on the accept
policy of the receiver. If the receiver is using an in-order accept policy, then it will
discard segments received after a lost segment. This fits best with batch retransmis-
sion. If the receiver is using an in-window accept policy, then a first-only or individ-
ual retransmission policy is best. Of course, in a mixed network of computers, both
accept policies may be in use.
Acknowledge Policy When a data segment arrives that is in sequence, the
receiving TCP entity has two options concerning the timing of acknowledgment:
• Immediate: When data are accepted, immediately transmit an empty (no data)
segment containing the appropriate acknowledgment number.
• Cumulative: When data are accepted, record the need for acknowledgment,
but wait for an outbound segment with data on which to piggyback the
acknowledgment. To avoid long delay, set a persist timer (Table 20.1); if the
timer expires before an acknowledgment is sent, transmit an empty segment
containing the appropriate acknowledgment number.
The immediate policy is simple and keeps the remote TCP entity fully
informed, which limits unnecessary retransmissions. However, this policy results in
extra segment transmissions, namely, empty segments used only to ACK. Further-
more, the policy can cause a further load on the network. Consider that a TCP entity
receives a segment and immediately sends an ACK. Then the data in the segment
are released to the application, which expands the receive window, triggering
another empty TCP segment to provide additional credit to the sending TCP entity.
Because of the potential overhead of the immediate policy, the cumulative
policy is typically used. Recognize, however, that the use of this policy requires more
processing at the receiving end and complicates the task of estimating round-trip
time by the sending TCP entity.
20.3 / TCP CONGESTION CONTROL
683
20.3
TCP CONGESTION CONTROL
The credit-based flow control mechanism of TCP was designed to enable a desti-
nation to restrict the flow of segments from a source to avoid buffer overflow at
the destination.This same flow control mechanism is now used in ingenious ways
to provide congestion control over the Internet between the source and destina-
tion. Congestion, as we have seen a number of times in this book, has two main
effects. First, as congestion begins to occur, the transit time across a network or
internetwork increases. Second, as congestion becomes severe, network or inter-
net nodes drop packets. The TCP flow control mechanism can be used to recog-
nize the onset of congestion (by recognizing increased delay times and dropped
segments) and to react by reducing the flow of data. If many of the TCP entities
operating across a network exercise this sort of restraint, internet congestion is
relieved.
Since the publication of RFC 793, a number of techniques have been imple-
mented that are intended to improve TCP congestion control characteristics.
Table 20.5 lists some of the most popular of these techniques. None of these tech-
niques extends or violates the original TCP standard; rather the techniques rep-
resent implementation policies that are within the scope of the TCP specification.
Many of these techniques are mandated for use with TCP in RFC
1122
(Requirements for Internet Hosts) while some of them are specified in RFC 2581.
The labels Tahoe, Reno, and NewReno refer to implementation packages avail-
able on many operating systems that support TCP. The techniques fall roughly
into two categories: retransmission timer management and window management.
In this section, we look at some of the most important and most widely imple-
mented of these techniques.
Retransmission Timer Management
As network or internet conditions change, a static retransmission timer is likely to
be either too long or too short. Accordingly, virtually all TCP implementations
attempt to estimate the current round-trip time by observing the pattern of delay
Table 20.5
Implementation of TCP Congestion Control Measures
Measure
RFC 1122
TCP Tahoe
TCP Reno
NewReno
RTT Variance Estimation
Exponential RTO Backoff
Karn’s Algorithm
Slow Start
Dynamic Window Sizing
on Congestion
Fast Retransmit
Fast Recovery
Modified Fast Recovery
684
CHAPTER 20 / TRANSPORT PROTOCOLS
for recent segments, and then set the timer to a value somewhat greater than the
estimated round-trip time.
Simple Average A simple approach is to take the average of observed round-trip
times over a number of segments. If the average accurately predicts future round-
trip times, then the resulting retransmission timer will yield good performance. The
simple averaging method can be expressed as
K+1
1
ARTT1K + 12 =
(20.1)
aRTT1i2
K + 1
i=1
where RTT(i) is the round-trip time observed for the ith transmitted segment, and
ARTT(K) is the average round-trip time for the first K segments.
This expression can be rewritten as
K
1
ARTT1K + 12 =
(20.2)
K + 1ARTT1K2+
K + 1RTT1K+12
With this formulation, it is not necessary to recalculate the entire summation each
time.
Exponential Average Note that each term in the summation is given equal
weight; that is, each term is multiplied by the same constant
Typically, we
1/1K + 12.
would like to give greater weight to more recent instances because they are more
likely to reflect future behavior. A common technique for predicting the next value
on the basis of a time series of past values, and the one specified in RFC 793, is expo-
nential averaging:
SRTT1K + 12 = a * SRTT1K2 + 11 - a2 * RTT1K + 12
(20.3)
where SRTT(K) is called the smoothed round-trip time estimate, and we define
SRTT102 = 0. Compare this with Equation (20.2). By using a constant value of
a 10 6 a 6 12, independent of the number of past observations, we have a circum-
stance in which all past values are considered, but the more distant ones have less
weight. To see this more clearly, consider the following expansion of Equation (20.3):
SRTT1K + 12 = 11 - a2RTT1K + 12 + a11 - a2RTT1K2 +
a211 - a2RTT1K - 12 + Á + aK11 - a2RTT112
Because both aand
are less than one, each successive term in the preceding
11 - a2
equation is smaller. For example, for
the expansion is
a = 0.8,
SRTT1K + 12 = 10.22RTT1K + 12 + 10.162RTT1K2 +
10.1282RTT1K - 12 + Á
The older the observation, the less it is counted in the average.
The smaller the value of a ,the greater the weight given to the more recent
observations. For
a = 0.5,
virtually all of the weight is given to the four or five
most recent observations, whereas for
a = 0.875,
the averaging is effectively
spread out over the ten or so most recent observations.The advantage of using a
20.3 / TCP CONGESTION CONTROL
685
small value of
is that the average will quickly reflect a rapid change in
a
the observed quantity. The disadvantage is that if there is a brief surge in the
value of the observed quantity and it then settles back to some relatively
constant value, the use of a small value of a will result in jerky changes in the
average.
Figure 20.11 compares simple averaging with exponential averaging (for two
different values of
a). In part (a) of the figure, the observed value begins at 1, grows
gradually to a value of 10, and then stays there. In part (b) of the figure, the
10
8
6
a
0.5
4
a
0.875
Simple average
2
Observed value
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Time
(a) Increasing function
20
15
10
a
0.5
a
0.875
5
Simple average
Observed value
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Time
(b) Decreasing function
Figure 20.11
Use of Exponential Averaging
686
CHAPTER 20 / TRANSPORT PROTOCOLS
observed value begins at 20, declines gradually to 10, and then stays there. Note
that exponential averaging tracks changes in RTT faster than does simple averag-
ing and that the smaller value of a results in a more rapid reaction to the change in
the observed value.
Equation (20.3) is used in RFC 793 to estimate the current round-trip time. As
was mentioned, the retransmission timer should be set at a value somewhat greater
than the estimated round-trip time. One possibility is to use a constant value:
RTO1K + 12 = SRTT1K + 12 + ¢
where RTO is the retransmission timer (also called the retransmission timeout)
and ¢ is a constant. The disadvantage of this is that
is not proportional to
¢
SRTT. For large values of SRTT, ¢ is relatively small and fluctuations in the
actual RTT will result in unnecessary retransmissions. For small values of SRTT,
¢ is relatively large and causes unnecessary delays in retransmitting lost
segments. Accordingly, RFC 793 specifies the use of a timer whose value is pro-
portional to SRTT, within limits:
RTO1K + 12 = MIN1UBOUND, MAX1LBOUND, b * SRTT1K + 1222 (20.4)
where UBOUND and LBOUND are prechosen fixed upper and lower bounds on
the timer value and b is a constant. RFC 793 does not recommend specific values
but does list as “example values” the following: a between 0.8 and 0.9 and
b
between 1.3 and 2.0.
RTT Variance Estimation (Jacobson’s Algorithm) The technique speci-
fied in the TCP standard, and described in Equations (20.3) and (20.4), enables a
TCP entity to adapt to changes in round-trip time. However, it does not cope well
with a situation in which the round-trip time exhibits a relatively high variance.
[ZHAN86] points out three sources of high variance:
1. If the data rate on the TCP connection is relatively low, then the transmission
delay will be relatively large compared to propagation time and the variance
in delay due to variance in IP datagram size will be significant. Thus, the SRTT
estimator is heavily influenced by characteristics that are a property of the
data and not of the network.
2. Internet traffic load and conditions may change abruptly due to traffic from
other sources, causing abrupt changes in RTT.
3. The peer TCP entity may not acknowledge each segment immediately because
of its own processing delays and because it exercises its privilege to use cumu-
lative acknowledgments.
The original TCP specification tries to account for this variability by multiply-
ing the RTT estimator by a constant factor, as shown in Equation (20.4). In a stable
environment, with low variance of RTT, this formulation results in an unnecessarily
high value of RTO, and in an unstable environment a value of
may be inade-
b = 2
quate to protect against unnecessary retransmissions.
A more effective approach is to estimate the variability in RTT values and to
use that as input into the calculation of an RTO. A variability measure that is easy to
estimate is the mean deviation, defined as
20.3 / TCP CONGESTION CONTROL
687
MDEV1X2 = E[ ƒ X - E[X] ƒ ]
where E[X] is the expected value of X.
As with the estimate of RTT, a simple average could be used to estimate
MDEV:
AERR1K + 12 = RTT1K + 12 - ARTT1K2
K+1
1
ADEV1K + 12 =
ƒ AERR1i2 ƒ
K + 1a
i=1
K
1
=
ƒ AERR1K + 12 ƒ
K + 1ADEV1K2+
K + 1
where ARTT(K) is the simple average defined in Equation (20.1) and AERR(K) is
the sample mean deviation measured at time K.
As with the definition of ARRT, each term in the summation of ADEV is
given equal weight; that is, each term is multiplied by the same constant
1/1K + 12. Again, we would like to give greater weight to more recent instances
because they are more likely to reflect future behavior. Jacobson, who proposed
the use of a dynamic estimate of variability in estimating RTT [JACO88], sug-
gests using the same exponential smoothing technique as is used for the calcula-
tion of SRTT. The complete algorithm proposed by Jacobson can be expressed
as follows:
SRTT1K + 12 = 11 - g2 * SRTT1K2 + g * RTT1K + 12
SERR1K + 12 = RTT1K + 12 - SRTT1K2
(20.5)
SDEV1K + 12 = 11 - h2 * SDEV1K2 + h * ƒ SERR1K + 12 ƒ
RTO1K + 12 = SRTT1K + 12 + f * SDEV1K + 12
As in the RFC 793 definition [Equation (20.3)], SRTT is an exponentially
smoothed estimate of RTT, with
equivalent to a. Now, however, instead of
11 - g2
multiplying the estimate SRTT by a constant [Equation (20.4)], a multiple of the
estimated mean deviation is added to SRTT to form the retransmission timer. Based
on his timing experiments, Jacobson proposed the following values for the constants
in his original paper [JACO88]:
g = 1/8 = 0.125
h = 1/4 = 0.25
f = 2
After further research [JACO90a], Jacobson recommended using
and this is
f = 4,
the value used in current implementations.
Figure 20.12 illustrates the use of Equation 20.5 on the same data set used
in Figure 20.11. Once the arrival times stabilize, the variation estimate SDEV
declines. The values of RTO for both
and
are quite conservative as
f = 2
f = 4
long as RTT is changing but then begin to converge to RTT when it stabilizes.
Experience has shown that Jacobson’s algorithm can significantly improve
TCP performance. However, it does not stand by itself. Two other factors must be
considered:
688
CHAPTER 20 / TRANSPORT PROTOCOLS
25
RTO, f
2
RTO, f
4
20
SDEV
Observed
value
15
10
5
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Time
(a) Increasing function
50
RTO, f
2
RTO, f
4
40
SDEV
Observed
value
30
20
10
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Time
(b) Decreasing function
Figure 20.12
Jacobson’s RTO Calculation
1. What RTO value should be used on a retransmitted segment? The exponential
RTO backoff algorithm is used for this purpose.
2. Which round-trip samples should be used as input to Jacobson’s algorithm?
Karn’s algorithm determines which samples to use.
Exponential RTO Backoff When a TCP sender times out on a segment, it
must retransmit that segment. RFC 793 assumes that the same RTO value will be
used for this retransmitted segment. However, because the timeout is probably due
20.3 / TCP CONGESTION CONTROL
689
to network congestion, manifested as a dropped packet or a long delay in round-trip
time, maintaining the same RTO value is ill advised.
Consider the following scenario. There are a number of active TCP connec-
tions from various sources sending traffic into an internet. A region of congestion
develops such that segments on many of these connections are lost or delayed past
the RTO time of the connections. Therefore, at roughly the same time, many seg-
ments will be retransmitted into the internet, maintaining or even increasing the
congestion. All of the sources then wait a local (to each connection) RTO time and
retransmit yet again. This pattern of behavior could cause a sustained condition of
congestion.
A more sensible policy dictates that a sending TCP entity increase its RTO
each time a segment is retransmitted; this is referred to as a backoff process. In the
scenario of the preceding paragraph, after the first retransmission of a segment on
each affected connection, the sending TCP entities will all wait a longer time before
performing a second retransmission. This may give the internet time to clear the cur-
rent congestion. If a second retransmission is required, each sending TCP entity will
wait an even longer time before timing out for a third retransmission, giving the
internet an even longer period to recover.
A simple technique for implementing RTO backoff is to multiply the RTO for
a segment by a constant value for each retransmission:
RTO = q * RTO
(20.6)
Equation (20.6) causes RTO to grow exponentially with each retransmission. The
most commonly used value of q is 2. With this value, the technique is referred to as
binary exponential backoff. This is the same technique used in the Ethernet
CSMA/CD protocol (Chapter 16).
Karn’s Algorithm If no segments are retransmitted, the sampling process for
Jacobson’s algorithm is straightforward. The RTT for each segment can be included
in the calculation. Suppose, however, that a segment times out and must be retrans-
mitted. If an acknowledgment is subsequently received, there are two possibilities:
1. This is the ACK to the first transmission of the segment. In this case, the RTT is
simply longer than expected but is an accurate reflection of network conditions.
2. This is the ACK to the second transmission.
The sending TCP entity cannot distinguish between these two cases. If the sec-
ond case is true and the TCP entity simply measures the RTT from the first transmis-
sion until receipt of the ACK, the measured time will be much too long. The measured
RTT will be on the order of the actual RTT plus the RTO. Feeding this false RTT into
Jacobson’s algorithm will produce an unnecessarily high value of SRTT and therefore
RTO. Furthermore, this effect propagates forward a number of iterations, since the
SRTT value of one iteration is an input value in the next iteration.
An even worse approach would be to measure the RTT from the second trans-
mission to the receipt of the ACK. If this is in fact the ACK to the first transmission,
then the measured RTT will be much too small, producing a too low value of SRTT
and RTO. This is likely to have a positive feedback effect, causing additional retrans-
missions and additional false measurements.
690
CHAPTER 20 / TRANSPORT PROTOCOLS
Karn’s algorithm [KARN91] solves this problem with the following rules:
1. Do not use the measured RTT for a retransmitted segment to update SRTT
and SDEV [Equation (20.5)].
2. Calculate the backoff RTO using Equation (20.6) when a retransmission occurs.
3. Use the backoff RTO value for succeeding segments until an acknowledgment
arrives for a segment that has not been retransmitted.
When an acknowledgment is received to an unretransmitted segment, Jacob-
son’s algorithm is again activated to compute future RTO values.
Window Management
In addition to techniques for improving the effectiveness of the retransmission
timer, a number of approaches to managing the send window have been examined.
The size of TCP’s send window can have a critical effect on whether TCP can be
used efficiently without causing congestion. We discuss two techniques found in vir-
tually all modern implementations of TCP: slow start and dynamic window sizing on
congestion.3
Slow Start The larger the send window used in TCP, the more segments that a
sending TCP entity can send before it must wait for an acknowledgment. This can
create a problem when a TCP connection is first established, because the TCP entity
is free to dump the entire window of data onto the internet.
One strategy that could be followed is for the TCP sender to begin sending
from some relatively large but not maximum window, hoping to approximate the
window size that would ultimately be provided by the connection. This is risky
because the sender might flood the internet with many segments before it realized
from timeouts that the flow was excessive. Instead, some means is needed of gradu-
ally expanding the window until acknowledgments are received. This is the purpose
of the slow start mechanism.
With slow start, TCP transmission is constrained by the following relationship:
awnd = MIN[credit, cwnd]
(20.7)
where
awnd = allowed window, in segments. This is the number of segments that
TCP is currently allowed to send without receiving further acknowl-
edgments.
cwnd = congestion window, in segments. A window used by TCP during
startup and to reduce flow during periods of congestion.
credit = the amount of unused credit granted in the most recent acknowledg-
ment, in segments. When an acknowledgment is received, this value is
calculated as window/segment_size, where window is a field in the
incoming TCP segment (the amount of data the peer TCP entity is
willing to accept).
3These algorithms were developed by Jacobson [JACO88] and are also described in RFC 2581. Jacobson
describes things in units of TCP segments, whereas RFC 2581 relies primarily on units of TCP data octets,
with some reference to calculations in units of segments. We follow the development in [JACO88].
20.3 / TCP CONGESTION CONTROL
691
When a new connection is opened, the TCP entity initializes
That
cwnd = 1.
is, TCP is only allowed to send 1 segment and then must wait for an acknowledg-
ment before transmitting a second segment. Each time an acknowledgment to new
data is received, the value of cwnd is increased by 1, up to some maximum value.
In effect, the slow-start mechanism probes the internet to make sure that the
TCP entity is not sending too many segments into an already congested environ-
ment. As acknowledgments arrive, TCP is able to open up its window until the flow
is controlled by the incoming ACKs rather than by cwnd.
The term slow start is a bit of a misnomer, because cwnd actually grows expo-
nentially. When the first ACK arrives, TCP opens cwnd to 2 and can send two seg-
ments. When these two segments are acknowledged, TCP can slide the window 1
segment for each incoming ACK and can increase cwnd by 1 for each incoming
ACK. Therefore, at this point TCP can send four segments. When these four are
acknowledged, TCP will be able to send eight segments.
Dynamic Window Sizing on Congestion The slow-start algorithm has
been found to work effectively for initializing a connection. It enables the TCP
sender to determine quickly a reasonable window size for the connection. Might
not the same technique be useful when there is a surge in congestion? In particular,
suppose a TCP entity initiates a connection and goes through the slow-start proce-
dure.At some point, either before or after cwnd reaches the size of the credit allo-
cated by the other side, a segment is lost (timeout). This is a signal that congestion
is occurring. It is not clear how serious the congestion is.Therefore, a prudent pro-
cedure would be to reset
and begin the slow-start process all over.
cwnd = 1
This seems like a reasonable, conservative procedure, but in fact it is not con-
servative enough. Jacobson [JACO88] points out that “it is easy to drive a network
into saturation but hard for the net to recover.” In other words, once congestion
occurs, it may take a long time for the congestion to clear.4 Thus, the exponential
growth of cwnd under slow start may be too aggressive and may worsen the conges-
tion. Instead, Jacobson proposed the use of slow start to begin with, followed by a
linear growth in cwnd. The rules are as follows. When a timeout occurs,
1. Set a slow-start threshold equal to half the current congestion window; that is,
set
ssthresh = cwnd/2.
2. Set
cwnd = 1
and perform the slow-start process until
cwnd = ssthresh.
In this
phase, cwnd is increased by 1 for every ACK received.
3. For
increase cwnd by one for each round-trip time.
cwnd Ú ssthresh,
Figure 20.13 illustrates this behavior. Note that it takes 11 round-trip times to
recover to the cwnd level that initially took 4 round-trip times to achieve.
Fast Retransmit The retransmission timer (RTO) that is used by a sending TCP
entity to determine when to retransmit a segment will generally be noticeably
longer than the actual round-trip time (RTT) that the ACK for that segment will
take to reach the sender. Both the original RFC 793 algorithm and the Jacobson
4Kleinrock refers to this phenomenon as the long-tail effect during a rush-hour period. See Sections 2.7
and 2.10 of [KLEI76] for a detailed discussion.
692
CHAPTER 20 / TRANSPORT PROTOCOLS
20
Timeout
occurs
15
10
Threshold
5
0
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
Round-trip times
Figure 20.13
Illustration of Slow Start and Congestion Avoidance
algorithm set the value of RTO at somewhat greater than the estimated round-trip
time SRTT. Several factors make this margin desirable:
1. RTO is calculated on the basis of a prediction of the next RTT, estimated from
past values of RTT. If delays in the network fluctuate, then the estimated RTT
may be smaller than the actual RTT.
2. Similarly, if delays at the destination fluctuate, the estimated RTT becomes
unreliable.
3. The destination system may not ACK each segment but cumulatively ACK
multiple segments, while at the same time sending ACKs when it has any data
to send. This behavior contributes to fluctuations in RTT.
A consequence of these factors is that if a segment is lost, TCP may be slow to
retransmit. If the destination TCP is using an in-order accept policy (see Section
6.3), then many segments may be lost. Even in the more likely case that the destina-
tion TCP is using an in-window accept policy, a slow retransmission can cause prob-
lems. To see this, suppose that A transmits a sequence of segments, the first of which
is lost. So long as its send window is not empty and RTO does not expire, A can con-
tinue to transmit without receiving an acknowledgment. B receives all of these seg-
ments except the first. But B must buffer all of these incoming segments until the
missing one is retransmitted; it cannot clear its buffer by sending the data to an
application until the missing segment arrives. If retransmission of the missing seg-
ment is delayed too long, B will have to begin discarding incoming segments.
Jacobson [JACO90b] proposed two procedures, called fast retransmit and fast
recovery, that under some circumstances improve on the performance provided by
RTO. Fast retransmit takes advantage of the following rule in TCP. If a TCP entity
receives a segment out of order, it must immediately issue an ACK for the last in-order
segment that was received. TCP will continue to repeat this ACK with each incoming
20.4 / UDP
693
segment until the missing segment arrives to “plug the hole” in its buffer.When the hole
is plugged,TCP sends a cumulative ACK for all of the in-order segments received so far.
When a source TCP receives a duplicate ACK, it means that either (1) the seg-
ment following the ACKed segment was delayed so that it ultimately arrived out of
order, or (2) that segment was lost. In case (1), the segment does ultimately arrive
and therefore TCP should not retransmit. But in case (2) the arrival of a duplicate
ACK can function as an early warning system to tell the source TCP that a segment
has been lost and must be retransmitted. To make sure that we have case (2) rather
than case (1), Jacobson recommends that a TCP sender wait until it receives three
duplicate ACKs to the same segment (that is, a total of four ACKs to the same seg-
ment). Under these circumstances, it is highly likely that the following segment has
been lost and should be retransmitted immediately, rather than waiting for a timeout.
Fast Recovery When a TCP entity retransmits a segment using fast retransmit, it
knows (or rather assumes) that a segment was lost, even though it has not yet timed
out on that segment. Accordingly, the TCP entity should take congestion avoidance
measures. One obvious strategy is the slow-start/congestion avoidance procedure
used when a timeout occurs. That is, the entity could set ssthresh to cwnd/2, set
and begin the exponential slow-start process until
and
cwnd = 1
cwnd = ssthresh,
then increase cwnd linearly. Jacobson [JACO90b] argues that this approach is
unnecessarily conservative. As was just pointed out, the very fact that multiple
ACKs have returned indicates that data segments are getting through fairly regu-
larly to the other side. So Jacobson proposes a fast recovery technique: retransmit
the lost segment, cut cwnd in half, and then proceed with the linear increase of cwnd.
This technique avoids the initial exponential slow-start process.
RFC 2582 (The NewReno Modification to TCP’s Fast Recovery Mechanism)
modifies the fast recovery algorithm to improve the response when two segments
are lost within a single window. Using fast retransmit, a sender retransmits a seg-
ment before timeout because it infers that the segment was lost. If the sender subse-
quently receives an acknowledgement that does not cover all of the segments
transmitted before fast retransmit was initiated, the sender may infer that two seg-
ments were lost from the current window and retransmit an additional segment. The
details of both fast recovery and modified fast recovery are complex; the reader is
referred to RFCs 2581 and 2582.
20.4 UDP
In addition to TCP, there is one other transport-level protocol that is in common use
as part of the TCP/IP protocol suite: the user datagram protocol (UDP), specified in
RFC 768. UDP provides a connectionless service for application-level procedures.
Thus, UDP is basically an unreliable service; delivery and duplicate protection are
not guaranteed. However, this does reduce the overhead of the protocol and may be
adequate in many cases. An example of the use of UDP is in the context of network
management, as described in Chapter 22.
The strengths of the connection-oriented approach are clear. It allows connec-
tion-related features such as flow control, error control, and sequenced delivery.
Connectionless service, however, is more appropriate in some contexts. At lower
694
CHAPTER 20 / TRANSPORT PROTOCOLS
layers (internet, network), a connectionless service is more robust (e.g., see discus-
sion in Section 10.5). In addition, it represents a “least common denominator” of
service to be expected at higher layers. Further, even at transport and above there is
justification for a connectionless service. There are instances in which the overhead
of connection establishment and termination is unjustified or even counterproduc-
tive. Examples include the following:
• Inward data collection: Involves the periodic active or passive sampling of
data sources, such as sensors, and automatic self-test reports from security
equipment or network components. In a real-time monitoring situation, the
loss of an occasional data unit would not cause distress, because the next
report should arrive shortly.
• Outward data dissemination: Includes broadcast messages to network users,
the announcement of a new node or the change of address of a service, and the
distribution of real-time clock values.
• Request-response: Applications in which a transaction service is provided by a
common server to a number of distributed TS users, and for which a single
request-response sequence is typical. Use of the service is regulated at the appli-
cation level, and lower-level connections are often unnecessary and cumbersome.
• Real-time applications: Such as voice and telemetry, involving a degree of
redundancy and/or a real-time transmission requirement. These must not have
connection-oriented functions such as retransmission.
Thus, there is a place at the transport level for both a connection-oriented and
a connectionless type of service.
UDP sits on top of IP. Because it is connectionless, UDP has very little to do.
Essentially, it adds a port addressing capability to IP.This is best seen by examining the
UDP header, shown in Figure 20.14. The header includes a source port and destina-
tion port. The Length field contains the length of the entire UDP segment, including
header and data. The checksum is the same algorithm used for TCP and IP. For UDP,
the checksum applies to the entire UDP segment plus a pseudoheader prefixed to the
UDP header at the time of calculation and which is the same pseudoheader used for
TCP. If an error is detected, the segment is discarded and no further action is taken.
The Checksum field in UDP is optional. If it is not used, it is set to zero. How-
ever, it should be pointed out that the IP checksum applies only to the IP header
and not to the data field, which in this case consists of the UDP header and the user
data. Thus, if no checksum calculation is performed by UDP, then no check is made
on the user data at either the transport or internet protocol layers.
Bit:
0
16
31
Source Port
Destination Port
Length
Checksum
Figure 20.14
UDP Header
20.6 / KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
695
20.5 RECOMMENDED READING AND WEB SITES
[IREN99] is a comprehensive survey of transport protocol services and protocol mecha-
nisms, with a brief discussion of a number of different transport protocols. Perhaps the
best coverage of the various TCP strategies for flow and congestion control is to be found
in [STEV94]. An essential paper for understanding the issues involved is the classic
[JACO88].
IREN99
Iren, S.; Amer, P.; and Conrad, P. “The Transport Layer: Tutorial and Survey.”
ACM Computing Surveys, December 1999.
JACO88
Jacobson, V. “Congestion Avoidance and Control.” Proceedings, SIGCOMM
’88, Computer Communication Review, August 1988; reprinted in Computer Com-
munication Review, January
1995; a slightly revised version is available at
ftp.ee.lbl.gov/papers/congavoid.ps.Z
STEV94
Stevens, W. TCP/IP Illustrated, Volume
1: The Protocols. Reading, MA:
Addison-Wesley, 1994.
Recommended Web sites:
• Center for Internet Research: One of the most active groups in the areas covered in
this chapter. The site contains many papers and useful pointers.
• TCP Maintenance Working Group: Chartered by IETF to make minor revisions to
TCP and to update congestion strategies and protocols. The Web site includes all rele-
vant RFCs and Internet drafts.
• TCP-Friendly Web site: Summarizes some of the recent work on adaptive conges-
tion control algorithms for non-TCP-based applications, with a specific focus on
schemes that share bandwidth fairly with TCP connections.
20.6 KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
Key Terms
checksum
port
Transmission Control Protocol
credit
retransmission strategy
(TCP)
data stream push
sequence number
transport protocol
duplicate detection
slow start
urgent data signaling
exponential average
socket
User Datagram Protocol (UDP)
flow control
TCP congestion control
Karn’s algorithm
TCP implementation policy
multiplexing
options
696
CHAPTER 20 / TRANSPORT PROTOCOLS
Review Questions
20.1. What addressing elements are needed to specify a target transport service (TS) user?
20.2. Describe four strategies by which a sending TS user can learn the address of a receiv-
ing TS user.
20.3. Explain the use of multiplexing in the context of a transport protocol.
20.4. Briefly describe the credit scheme used by TCP for flow control.
20.5. What is the key difference between the TCP credit scheme and the sliding-window
flow control scheme used by many other protocols, such as HDLC?
20.6. Explain the two-way and three-way handshake mechanisms.
20.7. What is the benefit of the three-way handshake mechanism?
20.8. Define the urgent and push features of TCP.
20.9. What is a TCP implementation policy option?
20.10. How can TCP be used to deal with network or internet congestion?
20.11. What does UDP provide that is not provided by IP?
Problems
20.1
It is common practice in most transport protocols (indeed, most protocols at all
levels) for control and data to be multiplexed over the same logical channel on a
per-user-connection basis. An alternative is to establish a single control transport
connection between each pair of communicating transport entities. This connection
would be used to carry control signals relating to all user transport connections
between the two entities. Discuss the implications of this strategy.
20.2
The discussion of flow control with a reliable network service referred to a backpres-
sure mechanism utilizing a lower-level flow control protocol. Discuss the disadvan-
tages of this strategy.
20.3
Two transport entities communicate across a reliable network. Let the normalized
time to transmit a segment equal 1. Assume that the end-to-end propagation delay is
3, and that it takes a time 2 to deliver data from a received segment to the transport
user. The sender is initially granted a credit of seven segments. The receiver uses a
conservative flow control policy, and updates its credit allocation at every opportu-
nity. What is the maximum achievable throughput?
20.4
Someone posting to comp.protocols.tcp-ip complained about a throughput of 120
kbps on a 256-kbps link with a 128-ms round-trip delay between the United States
and Japan, and a throughput of 33 kbps when the link was routed over a satellite.
a. What is the utilization over the two links? Assume a 500-ms round-trip delay for
the satellite link.
b. What does the window size appear to be for the two cases?
c. How big should the window size be for the satellite link?
20.5
Draw diagrams similar to Figure 20.4 for the following (assume a reliable sequenced
network service):
a. Connection termination: active/passive
b. Connection termination: active/active
c. Connection rejection
d. Connection abortion: User issues an OPEN to a listening user, and then issues a
CLOSE before any data are exchanged.
20.6
With a reliable sequencing network service, are segment sequence numbers strictly
necessary? What, if any, capability is lost without them?
20.7
Consider a connection-oriented network service that suffers a reset. How could this
be dealt with by a transport protocol that assumes that the network service is reliable
except for resets?
20.6 / KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
697
20.8
The discussion of retransmission strategy made reference to three problems associ-
ated with dynamic timer calculation. What modifications to the strategy would help to
alleviate those problems?
20.9
Consider a transport protocol that uses a connection-oriented network service. Sup-
pose that the transport protocol uses a credit allocation flow control scheme, and the
network protocol uses a sliding-window scheme. What relationship, if any, should
there be between the dynamic window of the transport protocol and the fixed win-
dow of the network protocol?
20.10
In a network that has a maximum packet size of 128 bytes, a maximum packet lifetime
of 30 s, and an 8-bit packet sequence number, what is the maximum data rate per con-
nection?
20.11
Is a deadlock possible using only a two-way handshake instead of a three-way hand-
shake? Give an example or prove otherwise.
20.12
Listed are four strategies that can be used to provide a transport user with the address
of the destination transport user. For each one, describe an analogy with the Postal
Service user.
a. Know the address ahead of time.
b. Make use of a “well-known address.”
c. Use a name server.
d. Addressee is spawned at request time.
20.13
In a credit flow control scheme such as that of TCP, what provision could be made for
credit allocations that are lost or misordered in transit?
20.14
What happens in Figure 20.3 if a SYN comes in while the requested user is in
CLOSED? Is there any way to get the attention of the user when it is not listening?
20.15
In discussing connection termination with reference to Figure 20.8, it was stated that
in addition to receiving an acknowledgement of its FIN and sending an acknowledge-
ment of the incoming FIN, a TCP entity must wait an interval equal to twice the max-
imum expected segment lifetime (the TIME WAIT state). Receiving an ACK to its
FIN assures that all of the segments it sent have been received by the other side.
Sending an ACK to the other side’s FIN assures the other side that all its segments
have been received. Give a reason why it is still necessary to wait before closing the
connection.
20.16
Ordinarily, the Window field in the TCP header gives a credit allocation in octets.
When the Window Scale option is in use, the value in the Window field is multiplied
by a
where F is the value of the window scale option. The maximum value of F
2F,
that TCP accepts is 14. Why is the option limited to 14?
20.17
Suppose the round-trip time (RTT) between two hosts is 100 ms, and that both hosts
use a TCP window of 32 Kbytes. What is the maximum throughput that can be
achieved by means of TCP in this scenario?
20.18
Suppose two hosts are connected with each other by a means of a 100 mbps link, and
assume the round-trip time (RTT) between them is 1 ms. What is the minimum TCP
window size that would let TCP achieve the maximum possible throughput between
these two hosts? (Note: Assume no overhead.)
20.19
A host is receiving data from a remote peer by means of TCP segments with a pay-
load of 1460 bytes. If TCP acknowledges every other segment, what is the minimum
uplink bandwidth needed to achieve a data throughput of 1 MBytes per second,
assuming there is no overhead below the network layer? (Note: Assume no options
are used by TCP and IP.)
20.20
Analyze the advantages and disadvantages of performing congestion control at the
transport layer, rather than at the network layer.
20.21
Jacobson’s congestion control algorithm assumes most packet losses are caused by
routers dropping packets due to network congestion. However, packets may be also
dropped if they are corrupted in their path to destination. Analyze the performance
of TCP in a such lossy environment, due to Jacobson’s congestion control algorithm.
698
CHAPTER 20 / TRANSPORT PROTOCOLS
20.22
One difficulty with the original TCP SRTT estimator is the choice of an initial value.
In the absence of any special knowledge of network conditions, the typical approach
is to pick an arbitrary value, such as 3 seconds, and hope that this will converge quickly
to an accurate value. If this estimate is too small, TCP will perform unnecessary
retransmissions. If it is too large, TCP will wait a long time before retransmitting if the
first segment is lost. Also, the convergence may be slow, as this problem indicates.
a. Choose
and
and assume all measured RTT
a = 0.85
SRTT102 = 3 seconds,
and no packet loss. What is SRTT(19)? Hint: Equation (20.3)
values = 1 second
can be rewritten to simplify the calculation, using the expression
11 - an2/11 - a2.
b. Now let
and assume measured RTT
SRTT102 = 1 second
values = 3 seconds
and no packet loss. What is SRTT(19)?
20.23
A poor implementation of TCP’s sliding-window scheme can lead to extremely poor
performance. There is a phenomenon known as the Silly Window Syndrome (SWS),
which can easily cause degradation in performance by several factors of 10. As an
example of SWS, consider an application that is engaged in a lengthy file transfer, and
that TCP is transferring this file in 200-octet segments. The receiver initially provides a
credit of 1000. The sender uses up this window with 5 segments of 200 octets. Now sup-
pose that the receiver returns an acknowledgment to each segment and provides an
additional credit of 200 octets for every received segment. From the receiver’s point of
view, this opens the window back up to 1000 octets. However, from the sender’s point
of view, if the first acknowledgment arrives after five segments have been sent, a win-
dow of only 200 octets becomes available. Assume that at some point, the sender cal-
culates a window of 200 octets but has only 50 octets to send until it reaches a “push”
point. It therefore sends 50 octets in one segment, followed by 150 octets in the next
segment, and then resumes transmission of 200-octet segments. What might now hap-
pen to cause a performance problem? State the SWS in more general terms.
20.24
TCP mandates that both the receiver and the sender should incorporate mechanisms
to cope with SWS.
a. Suggest a strategy for the receiver. Hint: Let the receiver “lie” about how much
buffer space is available under certain circumstances. State a reasonable rule of
thumb for this.
b. Suggest a strategy for the sender. Hint: Consider the relationship between the
maximum possible send window and what is currently available to send.
20.25
Derive Equation (20.2) from Equation (20.1).
20.26
In Equation (20.5), rewrite the definition of
SRTT1K + 12
so that it is a function of
SERR1K + 12. Interpret the result.
20.27
A TCP entity opens a connection and uses slow start. Approximately how many
round-trip times are required before TCP can send N segments.
20.28
Although slow start with congestion avoidance is an effective technique for coping
with congestion, it can result in long recovery times in high-speed networks, as this
problem demonstrates.
a. Assume a round-trip time of 60 ms (about what might occur across a continent)
and a link with an available bandwidth of 1 Gbps and a segment size of 576 octets.
Determine the window size needed to keep the pipe full and the time it will take
to reach that window size after a timeout using Jacobson’s approach.
b. Repeat (a) for a segment size of 16 Kbytes.
PART SIX
Internet Applications
art Six looks at a range of applications that operate over the Internet.
P
ROAD MAP FOR PART SIX
Chapter 21 Network Security
Network security has become increasingly important with the growth
in the number and importance of networks. Chapter 21 provides a sur-
vey of security techniques and services. The chapter begins with a look
at encryption techniques for ensuring confidentiality, which include the
use of conventional and public-key encryption. Then the area of
authentication and digital signatures is explored. The two most impor-
tant encryption algorithms, AES and RSA, are examined, as well as
SHA-1, a one-way hash function important in a number of security
applications. Chapter 21 also discusses SSL and the set of IP security
standards.
Chapter 22 Internet Applications—Electronic Mail
and Network Management
The purpose of a communications architecture is to support distributed
applications. Chapter 22 examines two of the most important of these
applications; in each case, general principles are discussed, followed by a
specific example. The applications discussed are electronic mail and net-
work management. The corresponding examples are SMTP and MIME;
and SNMP.
699
Chapter 23 Internet Applications—Internet Directory
Service and World Wide Web
Chapter 23 looks at several important modern application areas for the
Internet. The Domain Name System (DNS) is a directory lookup service
that provides a mapping between the name of a host on the Internet and
its numerical address; it is a required application as specified in RFC 1123.
The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) supports the exchange of
requests and responses between Web browsers and Web servers.
Chapter 24 Internet Applications—Multimedia
Chapter 24 examines key topics related to multimedia. The chapter begins
with a discussion of audio and video compression. The Session Initiation
Protocol (SIP) is an application-level control protocol for setting up, mod-
ifying, and terminating real-time sessions between participants over an IP
data network; these include telephony and multimedia sessions. Finally,
this chapter examines the Real-Time Transport Protocol (RTP).
700
CHAPTER
21
NETWORK SECURITY
21.1
Security Requirements and Attacks
21.2
Confidentiality with Symmetric Encryption
21.3
Message Authentication and Hash Functions
21.4
Public-Key Encryption and Digital Signatures
21.5
Secure Socket Layer and Transport Layer Security
21.6
IPv4 and IPv6 Security
21.7
WI-FI Protected Access
21.8
Recommended Reading and Web Sites
21.9
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
701
702
CHAPTER 21 / NETWORK SECURITY
To guard against the baneful influence exerted by strangers is therefore an elementary
dictate of savage prudence. Hence before strangers are allowed to enter a district, or at
least before they are permitted to mingle freely with the inhabitants, certain cere-
monies are often performed by the natives of the country for the purpose of disarming
the strangers of their magical powers, or of disinfecting, so to speak, the tainted atmos-
phere by which they are supposed to be surrounded.
—The Golden Bough, Sir James George Frazer
KEY POINTS
•
Network security threats fall into two categories. Passive threats,
sometimes referred to as eavesdropping, involve attempts by an
attacker to obtain information relating to a communication. Active
threats involve some modification of the transmitted data or the cre-
ation of false transmissions.
•
By far the most important automated tool for network and communi-
cations security is encryption. With symmetric encryption, two parties
share a single encryption/decryption key. The principal challenge with
symmetric encryption is the distribution and protection of the keys. A
public-key encryption scheme involves two keys, one for encryption
and a paired key for decryption. The party that generated the key pair
keeps one of the keys private and makes the other key public.
•
Symmetric encryption and public-key encryption are often combined
in secure networking applications. Symmetric encryption is used to
encrypt transmitted data, using a one-time or short-term session key.
The session key can be distributed by a trusted key distribution center
or transmitted in encrypted form using public-key encryption. Public-
key encryption is also used to create digital signatures, which can
authenticate the source of transmitted messages.
•
The Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and the follow-on Internet standard
known as Transport Layer Security (TLS) provide security services
for Web transactions.
•
A security enhancement used with both IPv4 and IPv6, called IPSec,
provides both confidentiality and authentication mechanisms.
The requirements of information security within an organization have under-
gone two major changes in the last several decades. Before the widespread use of
data processing equipment, the security of information felt to be valuable to an
organization was provided primarily by physical and administrative means. An
21.1 / SECURITY REQUIREMENTS AND ATTACKS
703
example of the former is the use of rugged filing cabinets with a combination lock
for storing sensitive documents. An example of the latter is personnel screening
procedures used during the hiring process.
With the introduction of the computer, the need for automated tools for
protecting files and other information stored on the computer became evident.
This is especially the case for a shared system, such as a time-sharing system, and
the need is even more acute for systems that can be accessed over a public tele-
phone or data network. The generic name for the collection of tools designed to
protect data and to thwart hackers is computer security. Although this is an
important topic, it is beyond the scope of this book.
The second major change that affected security is the introduction of dis-
tributed systems and the use of networks and communications facilities for
carrying data between terminal user and computer and between computer and
computer. Network security measures are needed to protect data during their
transmission and to guarantee that data transmissions are authentic.
The essential technology underlying virtually all automated network and
computer security applications is encryption.Two fundamental approaches are in
use: symmetric encryption and public-key encryption, also known as asymmetric
encryption. As we look at the various approaches to network security, these two
types of encryption will be explored.
The chapter begins with an overview of the requirements for network
security. Next, we look at symmetric encryption and its use to provide confi-
dentiality. This is followed by a discussion of message authentication. We then
look at the use of public-key encryption and digital signatures. The chapter
closes with an examination of security features in SSL, IPSec, and Wi-Fi Pro-
tected Access.
21.1 SECURITY REQUIREMENTS AND ATTACKS
To understand the types of threats to security that exist, we need to have a definition
of security requirements. Computer and network security address four require-
ments:
• Confidentiality: Requires that data only be accessible by authorized parties.
This type of access includes printing, displaying, and other forms of disclosure,
including simply revealing the existence of an object.
• Integrity: Requires that only authorized parties can modify data. Modification
includes writing, changing, changing status, deleting, and creating.
• Availability: Requires that data are available to authorized parties.
• Authenticity: Requires that a host or service be able to verify the identity of a user.
A useful means of classifying security attacks (RFC 2828) is in terms of passive
attacks and active attacks. A passive attack attempts to learn or make use of infor-
mation from the system but does not affect system resources. An active attack
attempts to alter system resources or affect their operation.
704
CHAPTER 21 / NETWORK SECURITY
Passive Attacks
Passive attacks are in the nature of eavesdropping on, or monitoring of, transmis-
sions. The goal of the opponent is to obtain information that is being transmitted.
Two types of passive attacks are release of message contents and traffic analysis.
The release of message contents is easily understood. A telephone conversa-
tion, an electronic mail message, or a transferred file may contain sensitive or confi-
dential information. We would like to prevent an opponent from learning the
contents of these transmissions.
A second type of passive attack, traffic analysis, is subtler. Suppose that we
had a way of masking the contents of messages or other information traffic so that
opponents, even if they captured the message, could not extract the information
from the message. The common technique for masking contents is encryption. Even
with encryption protection in place, an opponent might still be able to observe the
pattern of these messages. The opponent could determine the location and identity
of communicating hosts and could observe the frequency and length of messages
being exchanged. This information might be useful in guessing the nature of the
communication that was taking place.
Passive attacks are very difficult to detect because they do not involve any
alteration of the data. Typically, the message traffic is sent and received in an appar-
ently normal fashion and neither the sender nor receiver is aware that a third party
has read the messages or observed the traffic pattern. However, it is feasible to pre-
vent the success of these attacks, usually by means of encryption. Thus, the emphasis
in dealing with passive attacks is on prevention rather than detection.
Active Attacks
Active attacks involve some modification of the data stream or the creation of a
false stream and can be subdivided into four categories: masquerade, replay, modifi-
cation of messages, and denial of service.
A masquerade takes place when one entity pretends to be a different entity. A
masquerade attack usually includes one of the other forms of active attack. For exam-
ple, authentication sequences can be captured and replayed after a valid authentica-
tion sequence has taken place, thus enabling an authorized entity with few privileges
to obtain extra privileges by impersonating an entity that has those privileges.
Replay involves the passive capture of a data unit and its subsequent retrans-
mission to produce an unauthorized effect.
Modification of messages simply means that some portion of a legitimate mes-
sage is altered, or that messages are delayed or reordered, to produce an unautho-
rized effect. For example, a message meaning
“Allow John Smith to read
confidential file accounts” is modified to mean “Allow Fred Brown to read confi-
dential file accounts.”
The denial of service prevents or inhibits the normal use or management of
communications facilities. This attack may have a specific target; for example, an
entity may suppress all messages directed to a particular destination (e.g., the secu-
rity audit service). Another form of service denial is the disruption of an entire net-
work or a server, either by disabling the network server or by overloading it with
messages so as to degrade performance.
21.2 / CONFIDENTIALITY WITH SYMMETRIC ENCRYPTION
705
Active attacks present the opposite characteristics of passive attacks. Whereas
passive attacks are difficult to detect, measures are available to prevent their suc-
cess. On the other hand, it is quite difficult to prevent active attacks absolutely,
because to do so would require physical protection of all communications facilities
and paths at all times. Instead, the goal is to detect them and to recover from any
disruption or delays caused by them. Because the detection has a deterrent effect, it
may also contribute to prevention.
21.2
CONFIDENTIALITY WITH SYMMETRIC ENCRYPTION
The universal technique for providing confidentiality for transmitted data is sym-
metric encryption. This section looks first at the basic concept of symmetric encryp-
tion, followed by a discussion of the two most important symmetric encryption
algorithms: the Data Encryption Standard (DES) and the Advanced Encryption
Standard (AES). We then examine the application of symmetric encryption to
achieve confidentiality.
Symmetric Encryption
Symmetric encryption, also referred to as conventional encryption or single-key
encryption, was the only type of encryption in use prior to the introduction of pub-
lic-key encryption in the late 1970s. Countless individuals and groups, from Julius
Caesar to the German U-boat force to present-day diplomatic, military, and com-
mercial users, have used symmetric encryption for secret communication. It remains
by far the more widely used of the two types of encryption.
A symmetric encryption scheme has five ingredients (Figure 21.1):
• Plaintext: This is the original message or data that is fed into the algorithm as
input.
• Encryption algorithm: The encryption algorithm performs various substitu-
tions and transformations on the plaintext.
• Secret key: The secret key is also input to the encryption algorithm. The exact
substitutions and transformations performed by the algorithm depend on the key.
Secret key shared by
Secret key shared by
sender and recipient
sender and recipient
K
K
Transmitted
X
ciphertext
Y E[K, X]
X D[K, Y]
Plaintext
Plaintext
Encryption algorithm
Decryption algorithm
input
output
(e.g., DES)
(reverse of encryption
algorithm)
Figure 21.1
Simplified Model of Symmetric Encryption
706
CHAPTER 21 / NETWORK SECURITY
• Ciphertext: This is the scrambled message produced as output. It depends on
the plaintext and the secret key. For a given message, two different keys will
produce two different ciphertexts.
• Decryption algorithm: This is essentially the encryption algorithm run in reverse.
It takes the ciphertext and the secret key and produces the original plaintext.
There are two requirements for secure use of symmetric encryption:
1. We need a strong encryption algorithm. At a minimum, we would like the
algorithm to be such that an opponent who knows the algorithm and has
access to one or more ciphertexts would be unable to decipher the ciphertext
or figure out the key. This requirement is usually stated in a stronger form: The
opponent should be unable to decrypt ciphertext or discover the key even if he
or she is in possession of a number of ciphertexts together with the plaintext
that produced each ciphertext.
2. Sender and receiver must have obtained copies of the secret key in a secure
fashion and must keep the key secure. If someone can discover the key and
knows the algorithm, all communication using this key is readable.
There are two general approaches to attacking a symmetric encryption scheme.
The first attack is known as cryptanalysis. Cryptanalytic attacks rely on the nature of
the algorithm plus perhaps some knowledge of the general characteristics of the
plaintext or even some sample plaintext-ciphertext pairs. This type of attack exploits
the characteristics of the algorithm to attempt to deduce a specific plaintext or to
deduce the key being used. If the attack succeeds in deducing the key, the effect is
catastrophic: All future and past messages encrypted with that key are compromised.
The second method, known as the brute-force attack, is to try every possible
key on a piece of ciphertext until an intelligible translation into plaintext is obtained.
On average, half of all possible keys must be tried to achieve success. Table 21.1
shows how much time is involved for various key sizes. The table shows results for
each key size, assuming that it takes
to perform a single decryption, a reasonable
1 ms
order of magnitude for today’s computers. With the use of massively parallel organi-
zations of microprocessors, it may be possible to achieve processing rates many
orders of magnitude greater. The final column of the table considers the results for a
system that can process 1 million keys per microsecond. As one can see, at this per-
formance level, a 56-bit key can no longer be considered computationally secure.
Table 21.1
Average Time Required for Exhaustive Key Search
Number of
Time Required at
Time Required at 106
Key Size (bits)
Alternative Keys
1 Decryption/Ms
Decryptions/Ms
32
232 = 4.3 * 109
231
ms = 35.8 minutes
2.15 milliseconds
56
256 = 7.2 * 1016
255
ms = 1142 years
10.01 hours
128
2
128 = 3.4 * 1038
2127 ms = 5.4 * 1024
years
5.4 * 1018
years
168
2
168 = 3.7 * 1050
2167 ms = 5.9 * 1036
years
5.9 * 1030
years
26
26 characters
26! = 4 * 10
2 * 1026 ms = 6.4 * 1012
years
6.4 * 106
years
(permutation)
21.2 / CONFIDENTIALITY WITH SYMMETRIC ENCRYPTION
707
Encryption Algorithms
The most commonly used symmetric encryption algorithms are block ciphers. A
block cipher processes the plaintext input in fixed-size blocks and produces a block
of ciphertext of equal size for each plaintext block. The two most important sym-
metric algorithms, both of which are block ciphers, are the Data Encryption Stan-
dard (DES) and the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES).
Data Encryption Standard DES has been the dominant encryption algorithm
since its introduction in 1977. However, because DES uses only a 56-bit key, it was
only a matter of time before computer processing speed made DES obsolete. In
1998, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) announced that it had broken a
DES challenge using a special-purpose “DES cracker” machine that was built for
less than $250,000. The attack took less than three days. The EFF has published a
detailed description of the machine, enabling others to build their own cracker
[EFF98]. And, of course, hardware prices will continue to drop as speeds increase,
making DES worthless.
The life of DES was extended by the use of triple DES (3DES), which involves
repeating the basic DES algorithm three times, using either two or three unique
keys, for a key size of 112 or 168 bits.
The principal drawback of 3DES is that the algorithm is relatively sluggish
in software. A secondary drawback is that both DES and 3DES use a 64-bit
block size. For reasons of both efficiency and security, a larger block size is
desirable.
Advanced Encryption Standard Because of these drawbacks, 3DES is not
a reasonable candidate for long-term use. As a replacement, the National Insti-
tute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 1997 issued a call for proposals for a
new Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), which should have a security
strength equal to or better than 3DES and significantly improved efficiency.
In addition to these general requirements, NIST specified that AES must be a
symmetric block cipher with a block length of 128 bits and support for key
lengths of 128, 192, and 256 bits. Evaluation criteria include security, computa-
tional efficiency, memory requirements, hardware and software suitability, and
flexibility. In 2001, AES was issued as a federal information processing standard
(FIPS 197).
In the description of this section, we assume a key length of 128 bits, which is
likely to be the one most commonly implemented.
Figure 21.2 shows the overall structure of AES. The input to the encryption
and decryption algorithms is a single 128-bit block. In FIPS 197, this block is
depicted as a square matrix of bytes. This block is copied into the State array,
which is modified at each stage of encryption or decryption. After the final stage,
State is copied to an output matrix. Similarly, the 128-bit key is depicted as a
square matrix of bytes. This key is then expanded into an array of key schedule
words; each word is 4 bytes and the total key schedule is 44 words for the 128-bit
key. The ordering of bytes within a matrix is by column. So, for example, the first
four bytes of a 128-bit plaintext input to the encryption cipher occupy the first col-
umn of the in matrix, the second four bytes occupy the second column, and so on.
708
CHAPTER 21 / NETWORK SECURITY
Plaintext
Key
Plaintext
Add round key
w[0, 3]
Add round key
Substitute bytes
Expand key
Inverse sub bytes
Shift rows
Inverse shift rows
Mix columns
Inverse mix cols
Add round key
w[4, 7]
Add round key
Inverse sub bytes
Inverse shift rows
Substitute bytes
Shift rows
Mix columns
Inverse mix cols
Add round key
w[36, 39]
Add round key
Substitute bytes
Inverse sub bytes
Shift rows
Inverse shift rows
Add round key
w[40, 43]
Add round key
Ciphertext
Ciphertext
(a) Encryption
(b) Decryption
Figure 21.2
AES Encryption and Decryption
Similarly, the first four bytes of the expanded key, which form a word, occupy the
first column of the w matrix.
The following comments give some insight into AES:
1. The key that is provided as input is expanded into an array of forty-four
32-bit words, w[i]. Four distinct words (128 bits) serve as a round key for
each round.
2. Four different stages are used, one of permutation and three of substitution:
21.2 / CONFIDENTIALITY WITH SYMMETRIC ENCRYPTION
709
State
SubBytes
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
State
ShiftRows
State
MixColumns
M
M
M
M
State
r0
r1
r2
r3
r4
r5
r6
r7
r8
r9
r10
r11
r12
r13
r14
r15
AddRoundKey
State
Figure 21.3
AES Encryption Round
• Substitute bytes: Uses a table, referred to as an S-box,1 to perform a byte-
by-byte substitution of the block
• Shift rows: A simple permutation that is performed row by row
• Mix columns: A substitution that alters each byte in a column as a function
of all of the bytes in the column
• Add round key: A simple bitwise XOR of the current block with a portion
of the expanded key
3. The structure is quite simple. For both encryption and decryption, the cipher
begins with an Add Round Key stage, followed by nine rounds that each
includes all four stages, followed by a tenth round of three stages. Figure 21.3
depicts the structure of a full encryption round.
4. Only the Add Round Key stage makes use of the key. For this reason, the
cipher begins and ends with an Add Round Key stage. Any other stage,
applied at the beginning or end, is reversible without knowledge of the key
and so would add no security.
1The term S-box, or substitution box, is commonly used in the description of symmetric ciphers to refer
to a table used for a table-lookup type of substitution mechanism.
710
CHAPTER 21 / NETWORK SECURITY
5. The Add Round Key stage by itself would not be formidable. The other three
stages together scramble the bits, but by themselves would provide no security
because they do not use the key.We can view the cipher as alternating operations
of XOR encryption (Add Round Key) of a block, followed by scrambling of the
block (the other three stages), followed by XOR encryption, and so on. This
scheme is both efficient and highly secure.
6. Each stage is easily reversible. For the Substitute Byte, Shift Row, and Mix
Columns stages, an inverse function is used in the decryption algorithm. For the
Add Round Key stage, the inverse is achieved by XORing the same round key to
the block, using the result that
A A B = B.
7. As with most block ciphers, the decryption algorithm makes use of the expanded
key in reverse order. However, the decryption algorithm is not identical to the
encryption algorithm. This is a consequence of the particular structure of AES.
8. Once it is established that all four stages are reversible, it is easy to verify that
decryption does recover the plaintext. Figure 21.2 lays out encryption and
decryption going in opposite vertical directions.At each horizontal point (e.g., the
dashed line in the figure), State is the same for both encryption and decryption.
9. The final round of both encryption and decryption consists of only three
stages. Again, this is a consequence of the particular structure of AES and is
required to make the cipher reversible.
Location of Encryption Devices
The most powerful, and most common, approach to countering the threats to net-
work security is encryption. In using encryption, we need to decide what to
encrypt and where the encryption gear should be located. As Figure
21.4
Packet-switching
network
End-to-end encryption device
Link encryption device
PSN Packet-switching node
Figure 21.4
Encryption across a Packet-Switching Network
21.2 / CONFIDENTIALITY WITH SYMMETRIC ENCRYPTION
711
indicates, there are two fundamental alternatives: link encryption and end-to-end
encryption.
With link encryption, each vulnerable communications link is equipped on
both ends with an encryption device. Thus, all traffic over all communications links
is secured. Although this requires a lot of encryption devices in a large network, it
provides a high level of security. One disadvantage of this approach is that the mes-
sage must be decrypted each time it enters a packet switch; this is necessary because
the switch must read the address (virtual circuit number) in the packet header to
route the packet. Thus, the message is vulnerable at each switch. If this is a public
packet-switching network, the user has no control over the security of the nodes.
With end-to-end encryption, the encryption process is carried out at the two
end systems. The source host or terminal encrypts the data. The data, in encrypted
form, are then transmitted unaltered across the network to the destination terminal
or host. The destination shares a key with the source and so is able to decrypt the
data. This approach would seem to secure the transmission against attacks on the
network links or switches. There is, however, still a weak spot.
Consider the following situation. A host connects to a frame relay network, sets
up a logical connection to another host, and is prepared to transfer data to that other
host using end-to-end encryption. Data are transmitted over such a network in the
form of frames, or packets, consisting of a header and some user data. What part of
each packet will the host encrypt? Suppose that the host encrypts the entire packet,
including the header. This will not work because, remember, only the other host can
perform the decryption. Each frame relay node will receive an encrypted packet and
be unable to read the header. Therefore, it will not be able to route the packet. It fol-
lows that the host may only encrypt the user data portion of the packet and must
leave the header in the clear, so that the network can read it.
Thus, with end-to-end encryption, the user data are secure. However, the
traffic pattern is not, because packet headers are transmitted in the clear. To
achieve greater security, both link and end-to-end encryption are needed, as is
shown in Figure 21.4.
To summarize, when both forms are employed, the host encrypts the user data
portion of a packet using an end-to-end encryption key. The entire packet is then
encrypted using a link encryption key. As the packet traverses the network, each
switch decrypts the packet using a link encryption key to read the header and then
encrypts the entire packet again for sending it out on the next link. Now the entire
packet is secure except for the time that the packet is actually in the memory of a
packet switch, at which time the packet header is in the clear.
Key Distribution
For symmetric encryption to work, the two parties to an exchange must share the
same key, and that key must be protected from access by others. Furthermore, fre-
quent key changes are usually desirable to limit the amount of data compromised if
an attacker learns the key. Therefore, the strength of any cryptographic system rests
with the key distribution technique, a term that refers to the means of delivering a
key to two parties that wish to exchange data without allowing others to see the key.
Key distribution can be achieved in a number of ways. For two parties A and B,
712
CHAPTER 21 / NETWORK SECURITY
1. A key could be selected by A and physically delivered to B.
2. A third party could select the key and physically deliver it to A and B.
3. If A and B have previously and recently used a key, one party could transmit the
new key to the other, encrypted using the old key.
4. If A and B each have an encrypted connection to a third party C, C could
deliver a key on the encrypted links to A and B.
Options 1 and 2 call for manual delivery of a key. For link encryption, this is a
reasonable requirement, because each link encryption device is only going to be
exchanging data with its partner on the other end of the link. However, for end-to-
end encryption, manual delivery is awkward. In a distributed system, any given host
or terminal may need to engage in exchanges with many other hosts and terminals
over time. Thus, each device needs a number of keys, supplied dynamically. The
problem is especially difficult in a wide area distributed system.
Option 3 is a possibility for either link encryption or end-to-end encryption, but
if an attacker ever succeeds in gaining access to one key, then all subsequent keys are
revealed. Even if frequent changes are made to the link encryption keys, these should
be done manually. To provide keys for end-to-end encryption, option 4 is preferable.
Figure 21.5 illustrates an implementation of option 4 for end-to-end encryp-
tion. In the figure, link encryption is ignored. This can be added, or not, as required.
For this scheme, two kinds of keys are identified:
• Session key: When two end systems (hosts, terminals, etc.) wish to communi-
cate, they establish a logical connection (e.g., virtual circuit). For the duration
of that logical connection, all user data are encrypted with a one-time session
key. At the conclusion of the session, or connection, the session key is
destroyed.
Key
1. Host sends packet requesting connection.
distribution
2. Security service buffers packet; asks
center
KDC for session key.
3. KDC distributes session key to both hosts.
4. Buffered packet transmitted.
3
Application
Application
2
1
Security
Security
service
service
4
HOST
HOST
Network
Figure 21.5
Automatic Key Distribution for Connection-Oriented Protocol
21.3 / MESSAGE AUTHENTICATION AND HASH FUNCTIONS
713
• Permanent key: A permanent key is a key used between entities for the pur-
pose of distributing session keys.
The configuration consists of the following elements:
• Key distribution center: The key distribution center determines which systems
are allowed to communicate with each other. When permission is granted for
two systems to establish a connection, the key distribution center provides a
one-time session key for that connection.
• Security service module (SSM): This module, which may consist of functional-
ity at one protocol layer, performs end-to-end encryption and obtains session
keys on behalf of users.
The steps involved in establishing a connection are shown in the figure. When
one host wishes to set up a connection to another host, it transmits a connection-
request packet (step 1). The SSM saves that packet and applies to the KDC for permis-
sion to establish the connection (step 2).The communication between the SSM and the
KDC is encrypted using a master key shared only by this SSM and the KDC. If the
KDC approves the connection request, it generates the session key and delivers it to
the two appropriate SSMs, using a unique permanent key for each SSM (step 3). The
requesting SSM can now release the connection request packet, and a connection is set
up between the two end systems (step 4).All user data exchanged between the two end
systems are encrypted by their respective SSMs using the one-time session key.
The automated key distribution approach provides the flexibility and dynamic
characteristics needed to allow a number of terminal users to access a number of
hosts and for the hosts to exchange data with each other.
Another approach to key distribution uses public-key encryption, which is dis-
cussed in Section 21.4.
Traffic Padding
We mentioned that, in some cases, users are concerned about security from traffic
analysis. With the use of link encryption, packet headers are encrypted, reducing the
opportunity for traffic analysis. However, it is still possible in those circumstances
for an attacker to assess the amount of traffic on a network and to observe the
amount of traffic entering and leaving each end system. An effective countermea-
sure to this attack is traffic padding.
Traffic padding is a function that produces ciphertext output continuously,
even in the absence of plaintext. A continuous random data stream is generated.
When plaintext is available, it is encrypted and transmitted. When input plaintext is
not present, the random data are encrypted and transmitted. This makes it impossi-
ble for an attacker to distinguish between true data flow and noise and therefore
impossible to deduce the amount of traffic.
21.3
MESSAGE AUTHENTICATION AND HASH FUNCTIONS
Encryption protects against passive attack (eavesdropping). A different require-
ment is to protect against active attack (falsification of data and transactions). Pro-
tection against such attacks is known as message authentication.
714
CHAPTER 21 / NETWORK SECURITY
Approaches to Message Authentication
A message, file, document, or other collection of data is said to be authentic when it
is genuine and came from its alleged source. Message authentication is a procedure
that allows communicating parties to verify that received messages are authentic.
The two important aspects are to verify that the contents of the message have not
been altered and that the source is authentic. We may also wish to verify a message’s
timeliness (it has not been artificially delayed and replayed) and sequence relative
to other messages flowing between two parties.
Authentication Using Symmetric Encryption It is possible to perform
authentication simply by the use of symmetric encryption. If we assume that only
the sender and receiver share a key (which is as it should be), then only the genuine
sender would be able successfully to encrypt a message for the other participant.
Furthermore, if the message includes an error detection code and a sequence num-
ber, the receiver is assured that no alterations have been made and that sequencing
is proper. If the message also includes a timestamp, the receiver is assured that the
message has not been delayed beyond that normally expected for network transit.
Message Authentication without Message Encryption In this section, we
examine several approaches to message authentication that do not rely on message
encryption. In all of these approaches, an authentication tag is generated and appended
to each message for transmission. The message itself is not encrypted and can be read
at the destination independent of the authentication function at the destination.
Because the approaches discussed in this section do not encrypt the message,
message confidentiality is not provided. Because symmetric encryption will provide
authentication, and because it is widely used with readily available products, why
not simply use such an approach, which provides both confidentiality and authenti-
cation? [DAVI89] suggests three situations in which message authentication without
confidentiality is preferable:
1. There are a number of applications in which the same message is broadcast to
a number of destinations. For example, notification to users that the network is
now unavailable or an alarm signal in a control center. It is cheaper and more
reliable to have only one destination responsible for monitoring authenticity.
Thus, the message must be broadcast in plaintext with an associated message
authentication tag. The responsible system performs authentication. If a viola-
tion occurs, the other destination systems are alerted by a general alarm.
2. Another possible scenario is an exchange in which one side has a heavy load and
cannot afford the time to decrypt all incoming messages. Authentication is car-
ried out on a selective basis, with messages chosen at random for checking.
3. Authentication of a computer program in plaintext is an attractive service. The
computer program can be executed without having to decrypt it every time,
which would be wasteful of processor resources. However, if a message
authentication tag were attached to the program, it could be checked when-
ever assurance is required of the integrity of the program.
Thus, there is a place for both authentication and encryption in meeting secu-
rity requirements.
21.3 / MESSAGE AUTHENTICATION AND HASH FUNCTIONS
715
Message
K
MAC
Transmit
algorithm
Compare
MAC
algorithm
MAC
K
Figure 21.6
Message Authentication Using a Message Authentication Code
(MAC)
Message Authentication Code One authentication technique involves the use
of a secret key to generate a small block of data, known as a message authentication
code, that is appended to the message. This technique assumes that two communicat-
ing parties, say A and B, share a common secret key
When A has a message M to
KAB.
send to B, it calculates the message authentication code as a function of the message
and the key:
The message plus code are transmitted to the
MACM = F1KAB, M2.
intended recipient. The recipient performs the same calculation on the received mes-
sage, using the same secret key, to generate a new message authentication code. The
received code is compared to the calculated code (Figure 21.6). If we assume that only
the receiver and the sender know the identity of the secret key, and if the received
code matches the calculated code, then
1. The receiver is assured that the message has not been altered. If an attacker
alters the message but does not alter the code, then the receiver’s calculation
of the code will differ from the received code. Because the attacker is assumed
not to know the secret key, the attacker cannot alter the code to correspond to
the alterations in the message.
2. The receiver is assured that the message is from the alleged sender. Because no one
else knows the secret key, no one else could prepare a message with a proper code.
3. If the message includes a sequence number (such as is used with X.25, HDLC,
and TCP), then the receiver can be assured of the proper sequence, because an
attacker cannot successfully alter the sequence number.
A number of algorithms could be used to generate the code. The National
Bureau of Standards, in its publication DES Modes of Operation, recommends the
716
CHAPTER 21 / NETWORK SECURITY
use of DES. DES is used to generate an encrypted version of the message, and the
last number of bits of ciphertext are used as the code. A 16- or 32-bit code is typical.
The process just described is similar to encryption. One difference is that the
authentication algorithm need not be reversible, as it must for decryption. It turns
out that because of the mathematical properties of the authentication function, it is
less vulnerable to being broken than encryption.
One-Way Hash Function A variation on the message authentication code that
has received much attention recently is the one-way hash function. As with the mes-
sage authentication code, a hash function accepts a variable-size message M as input
and produces a fixed-size message digest H(M) as output. Unlike the MAC, a hash
function does not also take a secret key as input. To authenticate a message, the mes-
sage digest is sent with the message in such a way that the message digest is authentic.
Figure 21.7 illustrates three ways in which the message can be authenticated.
The message digest can be encrypted using symmetric encryption (part a); if it is
assumed that only the sender and receiver share the encryption key, then authentic-
ity is assured. The message digest can also be encrypted using public-key encryption
(part b); this is explained in Section 21.4. The public-key approach has two advan-
tages: it provides a digital signature as well as message authentication, and it does
not require the distribution of keys to communicating parties.
These two approaches have an advantage over approaches that encrypt the
entire message in that less computation is required. Nevertheless, there has been
interest in developing a technique that avoids encryption altogether. Several rea-
sons for this interest are pointed out in [TSUD92]:
• Encryption software is quite slow. Even though the amount of data to be
encrypted per message is small, there may be a steady stream of messages into
and out of a system.
• Encryption hardware costs are nonnegligible. Low-cost chip implementations
of DES are available, but the cost adds up if all nodes in a network must have
this capability.
• Encryption hardware is optimized toward large data sizes. For small blocks of
data, a high proportion of the time is spent in initialization/invocation overhead.
• Encryption algorithms may be covered by patents. Some encryption algo-
rithms, such as the RSA public-key algorithm, are patented and must be
licensed, adding a cost.
• Encryption algorithms may be subject to export control.
Figure 21.7c shows a technique that uses a hash function but no encryption for
message authentication. This technique assumes that two communicating parties,
say A and B, share a common secret value
When A has a message to send to B,
SAB.
it calculates the hash function over the concatenation of the secret value and the
message:
MDM = H1SAB 7 M2.2 It then sends
[M 7 MDM]
to B. Because B possesses
S
AB
, it can recompute
H1SAB
7 M2
and verify
MDM.
Because the secret value itself is
not sent, it is not possible for an attacker to modify an intercepted message. As long
2
7
denotes concatenation.
21.3 / MESSAGE AUTHENTICATION AND HASH FUNCTIONS
717
Source A
Destination B
H
Compare
H
K
K
E
D
(a) Using conventional encryption
H
Compare
H
PRa
PUa
E
D
(b) Using public-key encryption
S
S
H
Compare
H
(c) Using secret value
Figure 21.7
Message Authentication Using a One-Way Hash Function
as the secret value remains secret, it is also not possible for an attacker to generate a
false message.
This third technique, using a shared secret value, is the one adopted for IP
security; it has also been specified for SNMPv3, discussed in Chapter 22.
Secure Hash Functions
The one-way hash function, or secure hash function, is important not only in
message authentication but in digital signatures. In this section, we begin with
718
CHAPTER 21 / NETWORK SECURITY
a discussion of requirements for a secure hash function. Then we look at one of
the most important hash functions, SHA.
Hash Function Requirements The purpose of a hash function is to produce a
“fingerprint” of a file, message, or other block of data. To be useful for message
authentication, a hash function H must have the following properties:
1. H can be applied to a block of data of any size.
2. H produces a fixed-length output.
3. H(x) is relatively easy to compute for any given x, making both hardware and
software implementations practical.
4. For any given code h, it is computationally infeasible to find x such that
H1x2 = h.
5. For any given block x, it is computationally infeasible to find
with
y Z x
H1y2 = H1x2.
6. It is computationally infeasible to find any pair (x, y) such that
H1x2 = H1y2.
The first three properties are requirements for the practical application of a
hash function to message authentication.
The fourth property is the one-way property: It is easy to generate a code
given a message, but virtually impossible to generate a message given a code.
This property is important if the authentication technique involves the use of a
secret value (Figure 21.7c). The secret value itself is not sent; however, if the
hash function is not one way, an attacker can easily discover the secret value: If
the attacker can observe or intercept a transmission, the attacker obtains the
message M and the hash code
The attacker then inverts the
MDM = H1SAB 7 M2.
hash function to obtain
SAB 7 M = H-11MDM2.
Because the attacker now has
both M and
SAB 7 M,
it is a trivial matter to recover
SAB.
The fifth property guarantees that it is impossible to find an alternative mes-
sage with the same hash value as a given message. This prevents forgery when an
encrypted hash code is used (Figures 21.7a and b). If this property were not true, an
attacker would be capable of the following sequence: First, observe or intercept a
message plus its encrypted hash code; second, generate an unencrypted hash code
from the message; third, generate an alternate message with the same hash code.
A hash function that satisfies the first five properties in the preceding list is
referred to as a weak hash function. If the sixth property is also satisfied, then it is
referred to as a strong hash function. The sixth property protects against a sophisti-
cated class of attack known as the birthday attack.3
In addition to providing authentication, a message digest also provides data
integrity. It performs the same function as a frame check sequence: If any bits in the
message are accidentally altered in transit, the message digest will be in error.
The SHA Secure Hash Function
The Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA) was developed by NIST and published as a fed-
eral information processing standard (FIPS 180) in 1993; a revised version was
issued as FIPS 180-1 in 1995 and is generally referred to as SHA-1.
3See [STAL06] for a discussion of birthday attacks.
21.3 / MESSAGE AUTHENTICATION AND HASH FUNCTIONS
719
SHA-1 produces a hash value of 160 bits. In 2002, NIST produced a new ver-
sion of the standard, FIPS 180-2, that defined three new versions of SHA, with hash
value lengths of 256, 384, and 512 bits, known as SHA-256, SHA-384, and SHA-512.
These new versions have the same underlying structure and use the same types of
modular arithmetic and logical binary operations as SHA-1. In
2005, NIST
announced the intention to phase out approval of SHA-1 and move to a reliance on
the other SHA versions by 2010. Shortly thereafter, a research team described an
attack in which two separate messages could be found that deliver the same SHA-1
hash using
operations, far fewer than the
operations previously thought
269
280
needed to find a collision with an SHA-1 hash [WANG05]. This result should hasten
the transition to the other versions of SHA.
In this section, we provide a description of SHA-512. The other versions are
quite similar. The algorithm takes as input a message with a maximum length of less
than
bits and produces as output a 512-bit message digest. The input is
2128
processed in 1024-bit blocks. Figure 21.8 depicts the overall processing of a message
to produce a digest. The processing consists of the following steps:
Step 1: Append padding bits. The message is padded so that its length is congruent
to 896 modulo 1024 [length mod
). Padding is always added, even if
1024 = 896
the message is already of the desired length. Thus, the number of padding bits is in
the range of 1 to 1024. The padding consists of a single 1-bit followed by the neces-
sary number of 0-bits.
Step 2: Append length. A block of 128 bits is appended to the message. This block is
treated as an unsigned 128-bit integer (most significant byte first) and contains the
length of the original message (before the padding) The inclusion of a length value
makes more difficult a kind of attack known as a padding attack [TSUD92].
The outcome of the first two steps yields a message that is an integer multiple
of 1024 bits in length. In Figure 21.8, the expanded message is represented as the
N
1024 bits
L bits
128 bits
Message
100...0
L
1024 bits
1024 bits
1024 bits
M1
M2
MN
1024
1024
1024
IV
512
H1
H2
F
F
F
H0
HN
hash
code
word-by-word addition mod 264
Figure 21.8
Message Digest Generation Using SHA-512
720
CHAPTER 21 / NETWORK SECURITY
sequence of 1024-bit blocks
M1, M2, Á , MN,
so that the total length of the
expanded message is
N * 1024
bits.
Step 3: Initialize MD buffer. A 512-bit buffer is used to hold intermediate and final
results of the hash function.
Step 4: Process message in 512-bit (16-word) blocks. The heart of the algorithm is a
module that consists of 80 rounds of processing. The 80 rounds have the same struc-
ture but vary some constants and logical functions.
Step 5: Output. After all N 1024-bit blocks have been processed, the output from
the Nth stage is the 512-bit message digest.
The SHA-512 algorithm has the property that every bit of the hash code is a
function of every bit of the input. The complex repetition of the basic function F
produces results that are well mixed; that is, it is unlikely that two messages chosen
at random, even if they exhibit similar regularities, will have the same hash code.
Unless there is some hidden weakness in SHA-512, which has not so far been pub-
lished, the difficulty of coming up with two messages having the same message
digest is on the order of
operations, while the difficulty of finding a message
2256
with a given digest is on the order of
operations.
2512
21.4
PUBLIC-KEY ENCRYPTION AND DIGITAL SIGNATURES
Of equal importance to symmetric encryption is public-key encryption, which finds
use in message authentication and key distribution. This section looks first at the
basic concept of public-key encryption, followed by a discussion of digital signa-
tures. Then we discuss the most widely used public-key algorithm: RSA. We then
look at the problem of key distribution.
Public-Key Encryption
Public-key encryption, first publicly proposed by Diffie and Hellman in 1976
[DIFF76], is the first truly revolutionary advance in encryption in literally thousands
of years. For one thing, public-key algorithms are based on mathematical functions
rather than on simple operations on bit patterns. More important, public-key cryp-
tography is asymmetric, involving the use of two separate keys, in contrast to sym-
metric encryption, which uses only one key. The use of two keys has profound
consequences in the areas of confidentiality, key distribution, and authentication.
Before proceeding, we should first mention several common misconceptions
concerning public-key encryption. One is that public-key encryption is more secure
from cryptanalysis than symmetric encryption. In fact, the security of any encryp-
tion scheme depends on (1) the length of the key and (2) the computational work
involved in breaking a cipher. There is nothing in principle about either symmetric
or public-key encryption that makes one superior to another from the viewpoint of
resisting cryptanalysis. A second misconception is that public-key encryption is a
general-purpose technique that has made symmetric encryption obsolete. On the
contrary, because of the computational overhead of current public-key encryption
schemes, there seems no foreseeable likelihood that symmetric encryption will be
21.4 / PUBLIC-KEY ENCRYPTION AND DIGITAL SIGNATURES
721
Bobs's
public key
ring
Joy
Ted
Mike
Alice
Alice's public
Alice's private
PUa
PRa
key
key
Transmitted
X
X
ciphertext
D[PRa, Y]
Y E[PUa, X]
Plaintext
Plaintext
Encryption algorithm
Decryption algorithm
input
output
(e.g., RSA)
(reverse of encryption
algorithm)
(a) Encryption
Alice's
public key
ring
Joy
Ted
Bob
Mike
PRb
Bob's private
Bob's public
PUb
key
key
Transmitted
X
X
ciphertext
D[PUb, Y]
Y E[PRb, X]
Plaintext
Plaintext
input
Encryption algorithm
Decryption algorithm
output
(e.g., RSA)
(reverse of encryption
algorithm)
(b) Authentication
Figure 21.9
Public-Key Cryptography
abandoned. Finally, there is a feeling that key distribution is trivial when using pub-
lic-key encryption, compared to the rather cumbersome handshaking involved with
key distribution centers for symmetric encryption. In fact, some form of protocol is
needed, often involving a central agent, and the procedures involved are no simpler
or any more efficient than those required for symmetric encryption.
A public-key encryption scheme has six ingredients (Figure 21.9):
722
CHAPTER 21 / NETWORK SECURITY
• Plaintext: This is the readable message or data that is fed into the algorithm as
input.
• Encryption algorithm: The encryption algorithm performs various transfor-
mations on the plaintext.
• Public and private key: This is a pair of keys that have been selected so that if
one is used for encryption the other is used for decryption. The exact transfor-
mations performed by the encryption algorithm depend on the public or pri-
vate key that is provided as input.
• Ciphertext: This is the scrambled message produced as output. It depends on
the plaintext and the key. For a given message, two different keys will produce
two different ciphertexts.
• Decryption algorithm: This algorithm accepts the ciphertext and the matching
key and produces the original plaintext.
As the names suggest, the public key of the pair is made public for others to use,
while the private key is known only to its owner. A general-purpose public-key crypto-
graphic algorithm relies on one key for encryption and a different but related key for
decryption. Furthermore, these algorithms have the following important characteristics:
• It is computationally infeasible to determine the decryption key given only
knowledge of the cryptographic algorithm and the encryption key.
• For most public-key schemes, either of the two related keys can be used for
encryption, with the other used for decryption.
The essential steps are the following:
1. Each user generates a pair of keys to be used for the encryption and decryp-
tion of messages.
2. Each user places one of the two keys in a public register or other accessible file.
This is the public key. The companion key is kept private. As Figure 21.9 suggests,
each user maintains a collection of public keys obtained from others.
3. If Bob wishes to send a private message to Alice, Bob encrypts the message using
Alice’s public key.
4. When Alice receives the message, she decrypts it using her private key. No
other recipient can decrypt the message because only Alice knows Alice’s
private key.
With this approach, all participants have access to public keys, and private
keys are generated locally by each participant and therefore need never be distrib-
uted. As long as a user protects his or her private key, incoming communication is
secure. At any time, a user can change the private key and publish the companion
public key to replace the old public key.
Digital Signature
Public-key encryption can be used in another way, as illustrated in Figure 21.9b. Suppose
that Bob wants to send a message to Alice and, although it is not important that the mes-
sage be kept secret, he wants Alice to be certain that the message is indeed from him. In
21.4 / PUBLIC-KEY ENCRYPTION AND DIGITAL SIGNATURES
723
this case Bob uses his own private key to encrypt the message. When Alice receives the
ciphertext, she finds that she can decrypt it with Bob’s public key, thus proving that the
message must have been encrypted by Bob. No one else has Bob’s private key and
therefore no one else could have created a ciphertext that could be decrypted with
Bob’s public key. Therefore, the entire encrypted message serves as a digital signature.
In addition, it is impossible to alter the message without access to Bob’s private key, so
the message is authenticated both in terms of source and in terms of data integrity.
In the preceding scheme, the entire message is encrypted, which, although validat-
ing both author and contents, requires a great deal of storage. Each document must be
kept in plaintext to be used for practical purposes.A copy also must be stored in cipher-
text so that the origin and contents can be verified in case of a dispute. A more efficient
way of achieving the same results is to encrypt a small block of bits that is a function of
the document. Such a block, called an authenticator, must have the property that it is
infeasible to change the document without changing the authenticator. If the authenti-
cator is encrypted with the sender’s private key, it serves as a signature that verifies ori-
gin, content, and sequencing.A secure hash code such as SHA-1 can serve this function.
It is important to emphasize that the digital signature does not provide confi-
dentiality. That is, the message being sent is safe from alteration but not safe from
eavesdropping. This is obvious in the case of a signature based on a portion of the
message, because the rest of the message is transmitted in the clear. Even in the case
of complete encryption, there is no protection of confidentiality because any
observer can decrypt the message by using the sender’s public key.
The RSA Public-Key Encryption Algorithm
One of the first public-key schemes was developed in 1977 by Ron Rivest, Adi
Shamir, and Len Adleman at MIT and first published in 1978 [RIVE78]. The RSA
scheme has since that time reigned supreme as the only widely accepted and imple-
mented approach to public-key encryption. RSA is a block cipher in which the
plaintext and ciphertext are integers between 0 and
for some n.
n - 1
Encryption and decryption are of the following form, for some plaintext
block M and ciphertext block C:
C = Me mod n
M = Cd mod n = 1Me2d mod n = Med mod n
Both sender and receiver must know the values of n and e, and only the
receiver knows the value of d. This is a public-key encryption algorithm with a pub-
lic key of
PU = 5e, n6
and a private key of
PR = 5d, n6.
For this algorithm to be
satisfactory for public-key encryption, the following requirements must be met:
ed
1. It is possible to find values of e, d, n such that
M
mod
n = M
for all
M 6 n.
2. It is relatively easy to calculate
Me
and Cdfor all values of
M 6 n.
3. It is infeasible to determine d given e and n.
The first two requirements are easily met. The third requirement can be met
for large values of e and n.
Figure 21.10 summarizes the RSA algorithm. Begin by selecting two prime num-
bers, p and q, and calculating their product, n, which is the modulus for encryption and
724
CHAPTER 21 / NETWORK SECURITY
Key Generation
Select p, q
p and q both prime, p q
Calculate n p q
Calculate f(n)
(p
1)(q
1)
Select integer e
gcd(f(n), e)
1; 1 e f(n)
Calculate d
de mod f(n)
1
Public key
PU
{e, n}
Private key
PR
{d, n}
Encryption
Plaintext:
M n
Ciphertext:
C Me (mod n)
Decryption
Ciphertext:
C
Plaintext:
M Cd (mod n)
Figure 21.10
The RSA Algorithm
decryption. Next, we need the quantity
f1n2
,referred to as the Euler totient of n,which
is the number of positive integers less than n and relatively prime to n.4 Then select an
integer e that is relatively prime to
[i.e., the greatest common divisor of e and
f1n2
is 1]. Finally, calculate d such that de mod
It can be shown that d and e
f1n2
f1n2 = 1.
have the desired properties.
Suppose that user A has published its public key and that user B wishes to
send the message M to A. Then B calculates
(mod n) and transmits C. On
C = Me
receipt of this ciphertext, user A decrypts by calculating
(mod n).
M = Cd
An example, from [SING99], is shown in Figure 21.11. For this example, the
keys were generated as follows:
1. Select two prime numbers,
p = 17
and
q = 11.
2. Calculate n = pq = 17 * 11 = 187.
3. Calculate f1n2 = 1p - 121q - 12 = 16 * 10 = 160.
4. Select e such that e is relatively prime to
f1n2 = 160
and less than
f1n2;
we
choose e = 7.
4It can be shown that when n is a product of two primes, pq, then f1n2 = 1p - 121q - 12.
21.4 / PUBLIC-KEY ENCRYPTION AND DIGITAL SIGNATURES
725
Encryption
Decryption
Ciphertext
Plaintext
Plaintext
11
88
887 mod 187
11
1123 mod 187
88
88
KU
7, 187
KR
23, 187
Figure 21.11
Example of RSA Algorithm
5. Determine d such that de mod
and
The correct value is
160 = 1
d 6 160.
because
d = 23,
23 * 7 = 161 = 10 * 160 + 1.
The resulting keys are public key
and private key
PU = 57, 1876
PR = 523, 1876. The example shows the use of these keys for a plaintext input of
M = 88. For encryption, we need to calculate
mod 187. Exploiting the
C = 887
properties of modular arithmetic, we can do this as follows:
887 mod 187 = [1884 mod 1872 * 1882 mod 1872 * 1881 mod 1872] mod 187
881 mod 187 = 88
882 mod 187 = 7744 mod 187 = 77
884 mod 187 = 59,969,536 mod 187 = 132
887 mod 187 = 188 * 77 * 1322 mod 187 = 894,432 mod 187 = 11
For decryption, we calculate
mod 187:
M = 1123
1123 mod 187 = [1111 mod 1872 * 1112 mod 1872 * 1114 mod 1872 *
1118 mod 1872 * 1118 mod 1872] mod 187
111 mod 187 = 11
112 mod 187 = 121
114 mod 187 = 14,641 mod 187 = 55
118 mod 187 = 214,358,881 mod 187 = 33
1123 mod 187 = 111 * 121 * 55 * 33 * 332 mod 187 = 79,720,245 mod 187 = 88
There are two possible approaches to defeating the RSA algorithm. The first is
the brute-force approach: Try all possible private keys. Thus, the larger the number
of bits in e and d, the more secure the algorithm. However, because the calculations
involved, both in key generation and in encryption/decryption, are complex, the
larger the size of the key, the slower the system will run.
Most discussions of the cryptanalysis of RSA have focused on the task of fac-
toring n into its two prime factors. For a large n with large prime factors, factoring is a
hard problem, but not as hard as it used to be. A striking illustration of this is the fol-
lowing. In 1977, the three inventors of RSA dared Scientific American readers to
decode a cipher they printed in Martin Gardner’s “Mathematical Games” column.
726
CHAPTER 21 / NETWORK SECURITY
They offered a $100 reward for the return of a plaintext sentence, an event they pre-
dicted might not occur for some 40 quadrillion years. In April of 1994, a group work-
ing over the Internet and using over 1600 computers claimed the prize after only
eight months of work [LEUT94]. This challenge used a public-key size (length of n)
of 129 decimal digits, or around 428 bits. This result does not invalidate the use of
RSA; it simply means that larger key sizes must be used. Currently, a 1024-bit key size
(about 300 decimal digits) is considered strong enough for virtually all applications.
Key Management
With symmetric encryption, a fundamental requirement for two parties to communi-
cate securely is that they share a secret key. Suppose Bob wants to create a messaging
application that will enable him to exchange e-mail securely with anyone who has
access to the Internet or to some other network that the two of them share. Suppose
Bob wants to do this using only symmetric encryption. With symmetric encryption,
Bob and his correspondent, say, Alice, must come up with a way to share a unique
secret key that no one else knows. How are they going to do that? If Alice is in the
next room from Bob, Bob could generate a key and write it down on a piece of paper
or store it on a diskette and hand it to Alice. But if Alice is on the other side of the
continent or the world, what can Bob do? Well, he could encrypt this key using sym-
metric encryption and e-mail it to Alice, but this means that Bob and Alice must
share a secret key to encrypt this new secret key. Furthermore, Bob and everyone
else who uses this new e-mail package faces the same problem with every potential
correspondent: Each pair of correspondents must share a unique secret key.
How to distribute secret keys securely is the most difficult problem for sym-
metric encryption. This problem is wiped away with public-key encryption by the
simple fact that the private key is never distributed. If Bob wants to correspond with
Alice and other people, he generates a single pair of keys, one private and one pub-
lic. He keeps the private key secure and broadcasts the public key to all and sundry.
If Alice does the same, then Bob has Alice’s public key, Alice has Bob’s public key,
and they can now communicate securely. When Bob wishes to communicate with
Alice, Bob can do the following:
1. Prepare a message.
2. Encrypt that message using symmetric encryption with a one-time symmetric
session key.
3. Encrypt the session key using public-key encryption with Alice’s public key.
4. Attach the encrypted session key to the message and send it to Alice.
Only Alice is capable of decrypting the session key and therefore of recover-
ing the original message.
It is only fair to point out, however, that we have replaced one problem with
another. Alice’s private key is secure because she need never reveal it; however,
Bob must be sure that the public key with Alice’s name written all over it is in
fact Alice’s public key. Someone else could have broadcast a public key and said
it was Alice’s.
The solution to this problem is the public-key certificate. In essence, a cer-
tificate consists of a public key plus a User ID of the key owner, with the whole
21.5 / SECURE SOCKET LAYER AND TRANSPORT LAYER SECURITY
727
Unsigned certificate:
contains user ID,
user's public key
Generate hash
code of unsigned
certificate
H
Encrypt hash code
E
with CA's private key
to form signature
Signed certificate:
Recipient can verify
signature using CA's
public key.
Figure 21.12
Public-Key Certificate Use
block signed by a trusted third party. Typically, the third party is a certificate
authority (CA) that is trusted by the user community, such as a government
agency or a financial institution. A user can present his or her public key to the
authority in a secure manner and obtain a certificate. The user can then publish
the certificate. Anyone needing this user’s public key can obtain the certificate
and verify that it is valid by way of the attached trusted signature. Figure 21.12
illustrates the process.
21.5 SECURE SOCKET LAYER AND TRANSPORT
LAYER SECURITY
One of the most widely used security services is the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)
and the follow-on Internet standard known as Transport Layer Security (TLS),
the latter defined in RFC 2246. SSL is a general-purpose service implemented as
a set of protocols that rely on TCP. At this level, there are two implementation
choices. For full generality, SSL (or TLS) could be provided as part of the under-
lying protocol suite and therefore be transparent to applications. Alternatively,
SSL can be embedded in specific packages. For example, Netscape and Microsoft
Explorer browsers come equipped with SSL, and most Web servers have imple-
mented the protocol.
This section discusses SSLv3. Only minor changes are found in TLS.
728
CHAPTER 21 / NETWORK SECURITY
SSL
SSL Change
SSL Alert
Handshake
Cipher Spec
HTTP
Protocol
Protocol
Protocol
SSL Record Protocol
TCP
IP
Figure 21.13
SSL Protocol Stack
SSL Architecture
SSL is designed to make use of TCP to provide a reliable end-to-end secure service. SSL
is not a single protocol but rather two layers of protocols, as illustrated in Figure 21.13.
The SSL Record Protocol provides basic security services to various higher-
layer protocols. In particular, the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), which pro-
vides the transfer service for Web client/server interaction, can operate on top of SSL.
Three higher-layer protocols are defined as part of SSL: the Handshake Protocol, the
Change Cipher Spec Protocol, and the Alert Protocol. These SSL-specific protocols
are used in the management of SSL exchanges and are examined later in this section.
Two important SSL concepts are the SSL session and the SSL connection,
which are defined in the specification as follows:
• Connection: A connection is a transport (in the OSI layering model defini-
tion) that provides a suitable type of service. For SSL, such connections are
peer-to-peer relationships. The connections are transient. Every connection is
associated with one session.
• Session: An SSL session is an association between a client and a server. Ses-
sions are created by the Handshake Protocol. Sessions define a set of crypto-
graphic security parameters, which can be shared among multiple connections.
Sessions are used to avoid the expensive negotiation of new security parame-
ters for each connection.
Between any pair of parties (applications such as HTTP on client and server),
there may be multiple secure connections. In theory, there may also be multiple
simultaneous sessions between parties, but this feature is not used in practice.
SSL Record Protocol
The SSL Record Protocol provides two services for SSL connections:
• Confidentiality: The Handshake Protocol defines a shared secret key that is
used for symmetric encryption of SSL payloads.
• Message integrity: The Handshake Protocol also defines a shared secret key
that is used to form a message authentication code (MAC).
21.5 / SECURE SOCKET LAYER AND TRANSPORT LAYER SECURITY
729
Application data
Fragment
Compress
Add MAC
Encrypt
Append SSL
record header
Figure 21.14
SSL Record Protocol Operation
Figure 21.14 indicates the overall operation of the SSL Record Protocol. The
first step is fragmentation. Each upper-layer message is fragmented into blocks of
214 bytes (16,384 bytes) or less. Next, compression is optionally applied. The next
step in processing is to compute a message authentication code over the compressed
data. Next, the compressed message plus the MAC are encrypted using symmetric
encryption.
The final step of SSL Record Protocol processing is to prepend a header, con-
sisting of the following fields:
• Content Type (8 bits): The higher-layer protocol used to process the enclosed
fragment.
• Major Version (8 bits): Indicates major version of SSL in use. For SSLv3, the
value is 3.
• Minor Version (8 bits): Indicates minor version in use. For SSLv3, the value
is 0.
• Compressed Length (16 bits): The length in bytes of the plaintext fragment (or
compressed fragment if compression is used). The maximum value is
214 + 2048.
The content types that have been defined are change_cipher_spec, alert, hand-
shake, and application_data. The first three are the SSL-specific protocols, discussed
next. Note that no distinction is made among the various applications (e.g., HTTP)
that might use SSL; the content of the data created by such applications is opaque
to SSL.
The Record Protocol then transmits the resulting unit in a TCP segment.
Received data are decrypted, verified, decompressed, and reassembled and then
delivered to higher-level users.
730
CHAPTER 21 / NETWORK SECURITY
Change Cipher Spec Protocol
The Change Cipher Spec Protocol is one of the three SSL-specific protocols that use
the SSL Record Protocol, and it is the simplest. This protocol consists of a single
message, which consists of a single byte with the value 1. The sole purpose of this
message is to cause the pending state to be copied into the current state, which
updates the cipher suite to be used on this connection.
Alert Protocol
The Alert Protocol is used to convey SSL-related alerts to the peer entity. As with
other applications that use SSL, alert messages are compressed and encrypted, as
specified by the current state.
Each message in this protocol consists of two bytes. The first byte takes the
value warning(1) or fatal(2) to convey the severity of the message. If the level is
fatal, SSL immediately terminates the connection. Other connections on the same
session may continue, but no new connections on this session may be established.
The second byte contains a code that indicates the specific alert. An example of a
fatal alert is an incorrect MAC. An example of a nonfatal alert is a close_notify mes-
sage, which notifies the recipient that the sender will not send any more messages on
this connection.
Handshake Protocol
The most complex part of SSL is the Handshake Protocol. This protocol allows
the server and client to authenticate each other and to negotiate an encryption
and MAC algorithm and cryptographic keys to be used to protect data sent in an
SSL record. The Handshake Protocol is used before any application data is
transmitted.
The Handshake Protocol consists of a series of messages exchanged by client
and server. Figure 21.15 shows the initial exchange needed to establish a logical
connection between client and server. The exchange can be viewed as having four
phases.
Phase 1 is used to initiate a logical connection and to establish the security
capabilities that will be associated with it. The exchange is initiated by the client,
which sends a client_hello message with the following parameters:
• Version: The highest SSL version understood by the client.
• Random: A client-generated random structure, consisting of a 32-bit time-
stamp and 28 bytes generated by a secure random number generator. These
values are used during key exchange to prevent replay attacks.
• Session ID: A variable-length session identifier. A nonzero value indicates
that the client wishes to update the parameters of an existing connection or
create a new connection on this session. A zero value indicates that the client
wishes to establish a new connection on a new session.
• CipherSuite: This is a list that contains the combinations of cryptographic
algorithms supported by the client, in decreasing order of preference. Each
element of the list (each cipher suite) defines both a key exchange algorithm
and a CipherSpec.
21.5 / SECURE SOCKET LAYER AND TRANSPORT LAYER SECURITY
731
Client
Server
Phase 1
Establish security capabilities, including
protocol version, session ID, cipher suite,
compression method, and initial random
numbers.
Phase 2
Server may send certificate, key exchange,
and request certificate. Server signals end
of hello message phase.
Phase 3
Client sends certificate if requested. Client
sends key exchange. Client may send
certificate verification.
Phase 4
Change cipher suite and finish
handshake protocol.
Note: Shaded transfers are
optional or situation-dependent
messages that are not always sent.
Figure 21.15
Handshake Protocol Action
• Compression Method: This is a list of the compression methods the client
supports.
After sending the client_hello message, the client waits for the server_hello
message, which contains the same parameters as the client_hello message.
The details of phase 2 depend on the underlying public-key encryption scheme
that is used. In some cases, the server passes a certificate to the client, possibly addi-
tional key information, and a request for a certificate from the client.
732
CHAPTER 21 / NETWORK SECURITY
The final message in phase 2, and one that is always required, is the server_done
message, which is sent by the server to indicate the end of the server hello and associ-
ated messages. After sending this message, the server will wait for a client response.
In phase 3, upon receipt of the server_done message, the client should verify
that the server provided a valid certificate if required and check that the
server_hello parameters are acceptable. If all is satisfactory, the client sends one or
more messages back to the server, depending on the underlying public-key scheme.
Phase 4 completes the setting up of a secure connection. The client sends a
change_cipher_spec message and copies the pending CipherSpec into the current
CipherSpec. Note that this message is not considered part of the Handshake Proto-
col but is sent using the Change Cipher Spec Protocol.The client then immediately
sends the finished message under the new algorithms, keys, and secrets. The fin-
ished message verifies that the key exchange and authentication processes were
successful.
In response to these two messages, the server sends its own
change_cipher_spec message, transfers the pending to the current CipherSpec, and
sends its finished message. At this point the handshake is complete and the client
and server may begin to exchange application layer data.
21.6
IPV4 AND IPV6 SECURITY
In 1994, the Internet Architecture Board (IAB) issued a report entitled Security in
the Internet Architecture (RFC 1636). The report stated the general consensus that
the Internet needs more and better security, and it identified key areas for security
mechanisms. Among these were the need to secure the network infrastructure from
unauthorized monitoring and control of network traffic and the need to secure end-
user-to-end-user traffic using authentication and encryption mechanisms.
These concerns are fully justified. The Computer Emergency Response Team
(CERT) Coordination Center (CERT/CC) reports an ever-increasing number of
nesses in the operating systems of attached computers (e.g., Windows, Linux) as well
as vulnerabilities in Internet routers and other network devices. Similarly CERT/CC
documents a growing number of security-related incidents. These include denial of
service attacks; IP spoofing, in which intruders create packets with false IP
addresses and exploit applications that use authentication based on IP; and various
forms of eavesdropping and packet sniffing, in which attackers read transmitted
information, including logon information and database contents.
In response to these issues, the IAB included authentication and encryption as
necessary security features in the next-generation IP, which has been issued as IPv6.
Fortunately, these security capabilities were designed to be usable both with IPv4
and IPv6. This means that vendors can begin offering these features now, and many
vendors do now have some IPSec capability in their products.
Applications of IPSec
IPSec provides the capability to secure communications across a LAN, across private
and public WANs, and across the Internet. Examples of its use include the following:
21.6 / IPV4 AND IPV6 SECURITY
733
• Secure branch office connectivity over the Internet: A company can build a
secure virtual private network over the Internet or over a public WAN. This
enables a business to rely heavily on the Internet and reduce its need for pri-
vate networks, saving costs and network management overhead.
• Secure remote access over the Internet: An end user whose system is equipped
with IP security protocols can make a local call to an Internet service provider
(ISP) and gain secure access to a company network. This reduces the cost of
toll charges for traveling employees and telecommuters.
• Establishing extranet and intranet connectivity with partners: IPSec can be
used to secure communication with other organizations, ensuring authentica-
tion and confidentiality and providing a key exchange mechanism.
• Enhancing electronic commerce security: Even though some Web and elec-
tronic commerce applications have built-in security protocols, the use of IPSec
enhances that security.
The principal feature of IPSec that enables it to support these varied applica-
tions is that it can encrypt and/or authenticate all traffic at the IP level. Thus, all dis-
tributed applications, including remote logon, client/server, e-mail, file transfer, Web
access, and so on, can be secured.
The Scope of IPSec
IPSec provides three main facilities: an authentication-only function referred to as
Authentication Header (AH), a combined authentication/encryption function called
Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP), and a key exchange function. For virtual pri-
vate networks, both authentication and encryption are generally desired, because it is
important both to (1) assure that unauthorized users do not penetrate the virtual pri-
vate network and (2) assure that eavesdroppers on the Internet cannot read messages
sent over the virtual private network. Because both features are generally desirable,
most implementations are likely to use ESP rather than AH. The key exchange func-
tion allows for manual exchange of keys as well as an automated scheme.
The IPSec specification is quite complex and covers numerous documents. The
most important of these, issued in November of 1998, are RFCs 2401, 2402, 2406,
and 2408. In this section, we provide an overview of some of the most important ele-
ments of IPSec.
Security Associations
A key concept that appears in both the authentication and confidentiality mecha-
nisms for IP is the security association (SA). An association is a one-way relation-
ship between a sender and a receiver that affords security services to the traffic
carried on it. If a peer relationship is needed, for two-way secure exchange, then two
security associations are required. Security services are afforded to an SA for the
use of AH or ESP, but not both.
A security association is uniquely identified by three parameters:
• Security parameters index (SPI): A bit string assigned to this SA and having local
significance only. The SPI is carried in AH and ESP headers to enable the receiv-
ing system to select the SA under which a received packet will be processed.
734
CHAPTER 21 / NETWORK SECURITY
• IP destination address: Currently, only unicast addresses are allowed; this is
the address of the destination endpoint of the SA, which may be an end-user
system or a network system such as a firewall or router.
• Security protocol identifier: This indicates whether the association is an AH or
ESP security association.
Hence, in any IP packet, the security association is uniquely identified by the
Destination Address in the IPv4 or IPv6 header and the SPI in the enclosed exten-
sion header (AH or ESP).
An IPSec implementation includes a security association database that defines
the parameters associated with each SA. A security association is defined by the
following parameters:
•
Sequence number counter: A 32-bit value used to generate the sequence
number field in AH or ESP headers.
•
Sequence counter overflow: A flag indicating whether overflow of the
sequence number counter should generate an auditable event and prevent
further transmission of packets on this SA.
•
Antireplay window: Used to determine whether an inbound AH or ESP
packet is a replay, by defining a sliding window within which the sequence
number must fall.
•
AH information: Authentication algorithm, keys, key lifetimes, and related
parameters being used with AH.
•
ESP information: Encryption and authentication algorithm, keys, initialization
values, key lifetimes, and related parameters being used with ESP.
•
Lifetime of this security association: A time interval or byte count after which
an SA must be replaced with a new SA (and new SPI) or terminated, plus an
indication of which of these actions should occur.
•
IPSec protocol mode: Tunnel, transport, or wildcard (required for all imple-
mentations). These modes are discussed later in this section.
•
Path MTU: Any observed path maximum transmission unit (maximum size of
a packet that can be transmitted without fragmentation) and aging variables
(required for all implementations).
The key management mechanism that is used to distribute keys is coupled to
the authentication and privacy mechanisms only by way of the security parameters
index. Hence, authentication and privacy have been specified independent of any
specific key management mechanism.
Authentication Header
The authentication header provides support for data integrity and authentication
of IP packets. The data integrity feature ensures that undetected modification to a
packet’s content in transit is not possible. The authentication feature enables an
end system or network device to authenticate the user or application and filter traf-
fic accordingly; it also prevents the address spoofing attacks observed in today’s
Internet.
21.6 / IPV4 AND IPV6 SECURITY
735
Bit:
0
8
16
31
Next header
Payload length
Reserved
Security parameters index (SPI)
Sequence number
Authentication data (variable)
Figure 21.16
IPSec Authentication Header
Authentication is based on the use of a message authentication code (MAC),
as described in Section 21.3; hence the two parties must share a secret key.
The authentication header consists of the following fields (Figure 21.16):
•
Next Header (8 bits): Identifies the type of header immediately following this
header.
•
Payload Length (8 bits): Length of authentication header in 32-bit words,
minus 2. For example, the default length of the authentication data field is 96
bits, or three 32-bit words. With a three-word fixed header, there are a total of
six words in the header, and the Payload Length field has a value of 4.
•
Reserved (16 bits): For future use.
•
Security Parameters Index (32 bits): Identifies a security association.
•
Sequence Number (32 bits): A monotonically increasing counter value.
•
Authentication Data (variable): A variable-length field (must be an integral
number of 32-bit words) that contains the integrity check value (ICV), or
MAC, for this packet.
The authentication data field is calculated over
•
IP header fields that either do not change in transit (immutable) or that are
predictable in value upon arrival at the endpoint for the AH SA. Fields that
may change in transit and whose value on arrival are unpredictable are set to
zero for purposes of calculation at both source and destination.
•
The AH header other than the Authentication Data field. The Authentication
Data field is set to zero for purposes of calculation at both source and destination.
•
The entire upper-level protocol data, which is assumed to be immutable in transit.
For IPv4, examples of immutable fields are Internet Header Length and
Source Address. An example of a mutable but predictable field is the Destination
Address (with loose or strict source routing). Examples of mutable fields that are
zeroed prior to ICV calculation are the Time to Live and Header Checksum fields.
Note that both source and destination address fields are protected, so that address
spoofing is prevented.
736
CHAPTER 21 / NETWORK SECURITY
For IPv6, examples in the base header are Version (immutable), Destination
Address (mutable but predictable), and Flow Label (mutable and zeroed for
calculation).
Encapsulating Security Payload
The encapsulating security payload provides confidentiality services, including con-
fidentiality of message contents and limited traffic flow confidentiality. As an
optional feature, ESP can also provide an authentication service.
Figure 21.17 shows the format of an ESP packet. It contains the following
fields:
• Security Parameters Index (32 bits): Identifies a security association.
• Sequence Number (32 bits): A monotonically increasing counter value.
• Payload Data (variable): This is an upper-level segment protected by encryp-
tion.
• Padding (0-255 bytes): May be required if the encryption algorithm requires
the plaintext to be a multiple of some number of octets.
• Pad Length (8 bits): Indicates the number of pad bytes immediately preceding
this field.
• Next Header (8 bits): Identifies the type of data contained in the payload data
field by identifying the first header in that payload (for example, an extension
header in IPv6, or an upper-layer protocol such as TCP).
• Authentication Data (variable): A variable-length field (must be an integral
number of 32-bit words) that contains the integrity check value computed
over the ESP packet minus the Authentication Data field.
Bit:
0
16
24
31
Security parameters index (SPI)
Sequence number
Payload data (variable)
Padding (0 - 255 bytes)
Pad length
Next header
Authentication data (variable)
Figure 21.17
IPSec ESP Format
21.7 / WI-FI PROTECTED ACCESS
737
21.7
WI-FI PROTECTED ACCESS
As discussed in Section 17.6, the 802.11i task group has developed a set of capa-
bilities to address the WLAN security issues. In order to accelerate the introduc-
tion of strong security into WLANs, the Wi-Fi Alliance promulgated Wi-Fi
Protected Access (WPA) as a Wi-Fi standard. WPA is a set of security mecha-
nisms that eliminates most 802.11 security issues and was based on the current
state of the 802.11i standard. As 802.11i evolves, WPA will evolve to maintain
compatibility.
IEEE 802.11i addresses three main security areas: authentication, key
management, and data transfer privacy. To improve authentication, 802.11i
requires the use of an authentication server (AS) and defines a more robust
authentication protocol.The AS also plays a role in key distribution. For privacy,
802.11i provides three different encryption schemes. The scheme that provides a
long-term solution makes use of the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) with
128-bit keys. However, because the use of AES would require expensive
upgrades to existing equipment, alternative schemes based on 104-bit RC4 are
also defined.
Figure 21.18 gives a general overview of 802.11i operation. First, an exchange
between a station and an AP enables the two to agree on a set of security capabili-
ties to be used. Then, an exchange involving the AS and the station provides for
secure authentication. The AS is responsible for key distribution to the AP, which in
turn manages and distributes keys to stations. Finally, strong encryption is used to
protect data transfer between the station and the AP.
The 802.11i architecture consists of three main ingredients:
• Authentication: A protocol is used to define an exchange between a
user and an AS that provides mutual authentication and generates
temporary keys to be used between the client and the AP over the wireless
link.
Station
Access point
Authentication server
Security capabilities discovery
Authentication
Key management
Key distribution
Data protection
Figure 21.18
802.11i Operational Phases
738
CHAPTER 21 / NETWORK SECURITY
• Access control: This function enforces the use of the authentication function,
routes the messages properly, and facilitates key exchange. It can work with a
variety of authentication protocols.
• Privacy with message integrity: MAC-level data (e.g., an LLC PDU) are
encrypted, along with a message integrity code that ensures that the data have
not been altered.
Authentication operates at a level above the LLC and MAC protocols and is
considered beyond the scope of 802.11. There are a number of popular authentica-
tion protocols in use, including the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) and
the Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS). These are not covered
in this book. The remainder of this section examines access control and privacy with
message integrity.
Access Control5
IEEE 802.11i makes use of another standard that was designed to provide access
control functions for LANs. The standard is IEEE 802.1X, Port-Based Network
Access Control. IEEE
802.1X uses the terms supplicant, authenticator, and
authentication server (AS). In the context of an 802.11 WLAN, the first two terms
correspond to the wireless station and the AP. The AS is typically a separate device
on the wired side of the network (i.e., accessible over the DS) but could also reside
directly on the authenticator.
Before a supplicant is authenticated by the AS, using an authentication proto-
col, the authenticator only passes control or authentication messages between the
supplicant and the AS; the 802.1X control channel is unblocked but the 802.11 data
channel is blocked. Once a supplicant is authenticated and keys are provided, the
authenticator can forward data from the supplicant, subject to predefined access
control limitations for the supplicant to the network. Under these circumstances, the
data channel is unblocked.
As indicated in Figure 21.19, 802.1X uses the concepts of controlled and
uncontrolled ports. Ports are logical entities defined within the authenticator and
refer to physical network connections. For a WLAN, the authenticator (the AP) may
have only two physical ports, one connecting to the DS and one for wireless com-
munication within its BSS. Each logical port is mapped to one of these two physical
ports. An uncontrolled port allows the exchange of PDUs between the supplicant
and other the AS regardless of the authentication state of the supplicant. A con-
trolled port allows the exchange of PDUs between a supplicant and other systems
on the LAN only if the current state of the supplicant authorizes such an exchange.
The 802.1X framework, with an upper-layer authentication protocol, fits nicely
with a BSS architecture that includes a number of wireless stations and an AP. How-
ever, for an IBSS, there is no AP. For an IBSS, 802.11i provides a more complex solu-
tion that, in essence, involves pairwise authentication between stations on the IBSS.
5In this subsection, we are discussing access control as a security function. This is a different function than
medium access control (MAC) as described in Chapter 15. Unfortunately, the literature and the stan-
dards use the term access control in both contexts.
21.8 / RECOMMENDED READING AND WEB SITES
739
Uncontrolled
port
Authentication server
Access point
Station
Controlled
Controlled
port
port
To other
wireless stations
To DS
on this BSS
Figure 21.19
802.11i Access Control
Privacy with Message Integrity
IEEE 802.11i defines two schemes for protecting data transmitted in 802.11 MAC
PDUs. The first scheme is known as the Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) or
WPA-1. TKIP is designed to require only software changes to devices that are imple-
mented with an older wireless LAN security approach called Wired Equivalent Pri-
vacy (WEP); it uses the same RC4 stream encryption algorithm as WEP. The second
scheme is known as Counter Mode-CBC MAC Protocol (CCMP) or WPA-2. CCMP
makes use of the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) encryption protocol.6
Both TKIP and WPA-2 add a message integrity code (MIC) to the 802.11
MAC frame after the data field. The MIC is generated by an algorithm, called
Michael, that computes a 64-bit value calculated using the source and destination
MAC address values and the Data field. This value is then encrypted using a sepa-
rate key from that used for encrypting the Data fields. Thus, both the data and MIC
fields are encrypted. The use of a more complex algorithm, a separate encryption
key, and a 64-bit length, all make the MIC and substantially stronger message
authentication feature than the ICV. The MIC serves the purpose of message
authentication, a function described earlier in this chapter.
21.8 RECOMMENDED READING AND WEB SITES
The topics in this chapter are covered in greater detail in [STAL06]. For coverage of crypto-
graphic algorithms, [SCHN96] is a valuable reference work; it contains descriptions of virtually
every cryptographic algorithm and protocol in use up to the time of the book’s publication.
6The AES algorithm is described in detail in [STAL06] and [STAL02].
740
CHAPTER 21 / NETWORK SECURITY
SCHN96
Schneier, B. Applied Cryptography. New York: Wiley, 1996.
STAL06
Stallings, W. Cryptography and Network Security: Principles and Practice,
Fourth Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2003.
Recommended Web sites:
• Coast: Comprehensive set of links related to cryptography and network security
• IETF Security Area: Provides up-to-date information on Internet security standard-
ization efforts
• IEEE Technical Committee on Security and Privacy: Provides copies of IEEE’s
newsletter and information on IEEE-related activities
21.9 KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
Key Terms
active attack
hash function
public-key certificate
authenticity
integrity
public-key encryption
availability
IP Security (IPSec)
replay
Advanced Encryption
key distribution
RSA
Standard (AES)
key distribution center
secret key
brute-force attack
key management
secure hash function
ciphertext
masquerade
Secure Socket Layer
confidentiality
message authentication
(SSL)
cryptanalysis
message authentication code
session key
Data Encryption Standard
(MAC)
SHA
(DES)
one-way hash function
symmetric encryption
decryption algorithm
passive attack
traffic analysis
denial of service
plaintext
traffic padding
digital signature
private key
Transport Layer Security
encryption algorithm
public key
(TLS)
Review Questions
21.1
What is the difference between passive and active security threats?
21.2
List and briefly define categories of passive and active security threats.
21.3
What are DES and triple DES?
21.4
How is the AES expected to be an improvement over triple DES?
21.5
Explain traffic padding.
21.6
List and briefly define various approaches to message authentication.
21.7
What is a secure hash function?
21.9 / KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
741
21.8
Explain the difference between symmetric encryption and public-key encryption.
21.9
What are the distinctions among the terms public key, private key, secret key?
21.10
What is a digital signature?
21.11
What is a public-key certificate?
21.12
What protocols comprise SSL?
21.13
What is the difference between and SSL connection and an SSL session?
21.14
What services are provided by the SSL Record Protocol?
21.15
What services are provided by IPSec?
Problems
21.1
Give some examples where traffic analysis could jeopardize security. Describe situa-
tions where end-to-end encryption combined with link encryption would still allow
enough traffic analysis to be dangerous.
21.2
Key distribution schemes using an access control center and/or a key distribution cen-
ter have central points vulnerable to attack. Discuss the security implications of such
centralization.
21.3
Suppose that someone suggests the following way to confirm that the two of you are
both in possession of the same secret key. You create a random bit string the length of
the key, XOR it with the key, and send the result over the channel. Your partner
XORs the incoming block with the key (which should be the same as your key) and
sends it back. You check and if what you receive is your original random string, you
have verified that your partner has the same secret key, yet neither of you has ever
transmitted the key. Is there a flaw in this scheme?
21.4
Prior to the discovery of any specific public-key schemes, such as RSA, an existence
proof was developed whose purpose was to demonstrate that public-key encryption is
possible in theory. Consider the functions
f11x12 = z1; f21x2, y22 = z2; f31x3, y32 = z3,
where all values are integers with
Function f can be represented
1
1 … xi, yi, zi … N.
by a vector M1 of length N, in which the kth entry is the value of
Similarly,f and
2
f11k2.
can be represented by
matrices M2 and M3. The intent is to represent the
f
N * N
3
encryption/decryption process by table lookups for tables with very large values of N.
Such tables would be impractically huge but could, in principle, be constructed. The
scheme works as follows: Construct M1 with a random permutation of all integers
between 1 and N; that is, each integer appears exactly once in M1. Construct M2 so
that each row contains a random permutation of the first N integers. Finally, fill in M3
to satisfy the following condition:
f31f21f11k2, p2, k2 = p for all k, p with 1 … k, p … N
In words,
1. M1 takes an input k and produces an output x.
2. M2 takes inputs x and p giving output z.
3. M3 takes inputs z and k and produces p.
The three tables, once constructed, are made public.
a. It should be clear that it is possible to construct M3 to satisfy the preceding condi-
tion. As an example, fill in M3 for the following simple case:
5
5
2
3
4
1
4
4
2
5
1
3
M1
2
M2
1
3
2
4
5
M3
3
3
1
4
2
5
1
2
5
3
4
1
742
CHAPTER 21 / NETWORK SECURITY
Convention: The ith element of M1 corresponds to
The ith row of
k = i.
M2 corresponds to
the jth column of M2 corresponds to
The ith row
x = i;
p = j.
of M3 corresponds to
the jth column of M3 corresponds to
z = i;
k = j.
b. Describe the use of this set of tables to perform encryption and decryption
between two users.
c. Argue that this is a secure scheme.
21.5
Perform encryption and decryption using the RSA algorithm, as in Figure 21.11, for
the following:
a.
p = 3; q = 11, d = 7; M = 5
b.
p = 5; q = 11, e = 3; M = 9
c.
p = 7; q = 11, e = 17; M = 8
d.
p = 11; q = 13, e = 11; M = 7
e.
p = 17; q = 31, e = 7; M = 2.
Hint: Decryption is not as hard as you think; use
some finesse.
21.6
In a public-key system using RSA, you intercept the ciphertext
sent to a user
C = 10
whose public key is
What is the plaintext M?
e = 5, n = 35.
21.7
In an RSA system, the public key of a given user is
What is the pri-
e = 31, n = 3599.
vate key of this user?
21.8
Suppose we have a set of blocks encoded with the RSA algorithm and we don’t have
the private key. Assume
n = pq,
e is the public key. Suppose also someone tells us he
or she knows one of the plaintext blocks has a common factor with n. Does this help
us in any way?
21.9
Show how RSA can be represented by matrices M1, M2, and M3 of Problem 21.4.
21.10
Consider the following scheme:
1. Pick an odd number, E.
2. Pick two prime numbers, P and Q, where
is evenly divisible
1P - 121Q - 12 - 1
by E.
3. Multiply P and Q to get N.
1P - 121Q - 121E - 12 + 1
4. Calculate
D =
E
Is this scheme equivalent to RSA? Show why or why not.
21.11
Consider using RSA with a known key to construct a one-way hash function. Then
process a message consisting of a sequence of blocks as follows: Encrypt the first
block, XOR the result with the second block and encrypt again, and so on. Show that
this scheme is not secure by solving the following problem. Given a two-block mes-
sage B1, B2, and its hash
RSAH1B1, B22 = RSA1RSA1B12
B22
Given an arbitrary block C1, choose C2 so that
RSAH1C1, C22 = RSAH1B1, B22.
21.12
In SSL and TLS, why is there a separate Change Cipher Spec Protocol rather than
including a change_cipher_spec message in the Handshake Protocol?
21.13
In discussing AH processing, it was mentioned that not all of the fields in an IP header
are included in MAC calculation.
a. For each of the fields in the IPv4 header, indicate whether the field is immutable,
mutable but predictable, or mutable (zeroed prior to ICV calculation).
b. Do the same for the IPv6 header.
c. Do the same for the IPv6 extension headers.
In each case, justify your decision for each field.
CHAPTER22
INTERNET APPLICATIONS—
ELECTRONIC MAIL AND NETWORK
MANAGEMENT
22.1
Electronic Mail—SMTP and MIME
22.2
Network Management—SNMP
22.3
Recommended Reading and Web Sites
22.4
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
743
744
CHAPTER 22 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS
One of the most exciting aspects of birds’ lives is how they interact with others during
such social activities as defending territories, courting mates, nesting, raising young,
and flocking. Birds’ level of sociability changes with the seasons; they may be
gregarious at certain times of year yet highly territorial at others. Some of the most
fascinating behavior occurs in spring and summer when birds are engaged in
breeding. During a social interaction, an individual is coordinating its activities with
those of another. This inevitably requires communication.
—Secret Lives of Common Birds, Marie Read
KEY TOPICS
• The most widely used protocol for the transmission of electronic mail
is SMTP. SMTP assumes that the content of the message is a simple
text block. The recent MIME standard expands SMTP to support
transmission of multimedia information.
• The most important standardized scheme for supporting network
management applications is the Simple Network Management Proto-
col (SNMP). The original version of SNMP is available on a wide
array of products and is widely used. SNMPv2 contains a number of
functional enhancements to SNMP and is supplanting it. SNMPv3
provides security features that are added on to SNMPv2.
All of the protocols and functions described in Part Five are geared
toward one objective: the support of distributed applications that involve
the interaction of multiple independent systems. In the OSI model, such
applications occupy the application layer and are directly supported by the
presentation layer. In the TCP/IP suite, such applications typically rely on
TCP or UDP for support.
In this chapter, we examine two applications that give the reader a
feel for the range and diversity of applications supported by a communica-
tions architecture. The chapter begins with electronic mail, with the SMTP
and MIME standards as examples; SMTP provides a basic e-mail service,
while MIME adds multimedia capability to SMTP. The chapter then dis-
cusses network management, a support-type application, designed to
assure the effective monitoring and control of a distributed system. The
specific protocol that is examined is the Simple Network Management Pro-
tocol (SNMP), which is designed to operate in both the TCP/IP and OSI
environments.
Refer to Figure 2.5 to see the position within the TCP/IP suite of the
protocols discussed in this chapter.
22.1 / ELECTRONIC MAIL—SMTP AND MIME
745
22.1
ELECTRONIC MAIL—SMTP AND MIME
The most heavily used application in virtually any distributed system is electronic
mail. The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) has always been the workhorse of
the TCP/IP suite. However, SMTP has traditionally been limited to the delivery of
simple text messages. In recent years, there has been a demand for the capability to
deliver mail containing various types of data, including voice, images, and video
clips. To satisfy this requirement, a new electronic mail standard, which builds on
SMTP, has been defined: the Multi-Purpose Internet Mail Extension (MIME). In
this section, we first examine SMTP, and then look at MIME.
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)
SMTP is the standard protocol for transferring mail between hosts in the TCP/IP
suite; it is defined in RFC 821.
Although messages transferred by SMTP usually follow the format defined in
RFC 822, described later, SMTP is not concerned with the format or content of mes-
sages themselves, with two exceptions. This concept is often expressed by saying that
SMTP uses information written on the envelope of the mail (message header), but
does not look at the contents (message body) of the envelope. The two exceptions
are as follows:
1. SMTP standardizes the message character set as 7-bit ASCII.
2. SMTP adds log information to the start of the delivered message that indicates
the path the message took.
Basic Electronic Mail Operation Figure 22.1 illustrates the overall flow of
mail in a typical system. Although much of this activity is outside the scope of SMTP,
the figure illustrates the context within which SMTP typically operates.
To begin, mail is created by a user agent program in response to user input.
Each created message consists of a header that includes the recipient’s e-mail
address and other information, and a body containing the message to be sent. These
messages are then queued in some fashion and provided as input to an SMTP
Sender program, which is typically an always-present server program on the host.
Although the structure of the outgoing mail queue will differ depending on
the host’s operating system, each queued message conceptually has two parts:
1. The message text, consisting of
• The RFC 822 header: This constitutes the message envelope and includes
an indication of the intended recipient or recipients.
• The body of the message, composed by the user.
2. A list of mail destinations.
The list of mail destinations for the message is derived by the user agent from
the 822 message header. In some cases, the destination or destinations are literally
specified in the message header. In other cases, the user agent may need to expand
mailing list names, remove duplicates, and replace mnemonic names with actual
746
CHAPTER 22 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS
Header
Header
Header
Header
ge
Header
ge
E-mail
ge
SMTP
client
ge
Sender
TCP to port 25
Message
on foreign
body
SMTP receiver
(a) Outgoing mail
User mailboxes
SMTP
receiver
TCP from foreign
SMTP sender
to local port 25
(b) Incoming mail
Figure 22.1
SMTP Mail Flow
mailbox names. If any blind carbon copies (BCCs) are indicated, the user agent
needs to prepare messages that conform to this requirement. The basic idea is that
the multiple formats and styles preferred by humans in the user interface are
replaced by a standardized list suitable for the SMTP send program.
The SMTP sender takes messages from the outgoing mail queue and transmits
them to the proper destination host via SMTP transactions over one or more TCP
connections to port 25 on the target hosts. A host may have multiple SMTP senders
active simultaneously if it has a large volume of outgoing mail, and should also have
the capability of creating SMTP receivers on demand so that mail from one host
cannot delay mail from another.
Whenever the SMTP sender completes delivery of a particular message to
one or more users on a specific host, it deletes the corresponding destinations
from that message’s destination list. When all destinations for a particular
message are processed, the message is deleted from the queue. In processing a
queue, the SMTP sender can perform a variety of optimizations. If a particular
message is sent to multiple users on a single host, the message text need be sent
only once. If multiple messages are ready to send to the same host, the SMTP
sender can open a TCP connection, transfer the multiple messages, and then close
the connection rather than opening and closing a connection for each message.
The SMTP sender must deal with a variety of errors. The destination host may
be unreachable, out of operation, or the TCP connection may fail while mail is being
transferred. The sender can requeue the mail for later delivery but give up after
22.1 / ELECTRONIC MAIL—SMTP AND MIME
747
some period rather than keep the message in the queue indefinitely. A common
error is a faulty destination address, which can occur due to user input error or
because the intended destination user has a new address on a different host. The
SMTP sender must either redirect the message if possible or return an error notifi-
cation to the message’s originator.
The SMTP protocol is used to transfer a message from the SMTP sender to
the SMTP receiver over a TCP connection. SMTP attempts to provide reliable oper-
ation but does not guarantee to recover from lost messages. SMTP does not return
an end-to-end acknowledgment to a message’s originator to indicate that a message
is successfully delivered to the message’s recipient. Also, SNMP does not guarantee
to return error indications. However, the SMTP-based mail system is generally con-
sidered reliable.
The SMTP receiver accepts each arriving message and either places it in
the appropriate user mailbox or copies it to the local outgoing mail queue if for-
warding is required. The SMTP receiver must be able to verify local mail desti-
nations and deal with errors, including transmission errors and lack of storage
capacity.
The SMTP sender is responsible for a message up to the point where the
SMTP receiver indicates that the transfer is complete; however, this simply means
that the message has arrived at the SMTP receiver, not that the message has been
delivered to and retrieved by the intended final recipient. The SMTP receiver’s
error-handling responsibilities are generally limited to giving up on TCP connec-
tions that fail or are inactive for very long periods. Thus, the sender has most of the
error recovery responsibility. Errors during completion indication may cause dupli-
cate, but not lost, messages.
In most cases, messages go directly from the mail originator’s machine to the
destination machine over a single TCP connection. However, mail will occasionally
go through intermediate machines via an SMTP forwarding capability, in which case
the message must traverse a series of TCP connections between source and destina-
tion. One way for this to happen is for the sender to specify a route to the destina-
tion in the form of a sequence of servers. A more common event is forwarding
required because a user has moved.
It is important to note that the SMTP protocol is limited to the conversation that
takes place between the SMTP sender and the SMTP receiver. SMTP’s main function
is the transfer of messages, although there are some ancillary functions dealing with
mail destination verification and handling. The rest of the mail-handling apparatus
depicted in Figure 22.1 is beyond the scope of SMTP and may differ from one system
to another.
We now turn to a discussion of the main elements of SMTP.
SMTP Overview The operation of SMTP consists of a series of commands
and responses exchanged between the SMTP sender and receiver. The initiative
is with the SMTP sender, who establishes the TCP connection. Once the connec-
tion is established, the SMTP sender sends commands over the connection to
the receiver. Each command generates exactly one reply from the SMTP
receiver.
748
CHAPTER 22 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS
Table 22.1
SMTP Commands
Name
Command Form
Description
HELO
HELO <SP> <domain> <CRLF>
Send identification
MAIL
MAIL <SP> FROM:<reverse-path> <CRLF>
Identifies originator of mail
RCPT
RCPT <SP> TO:<forward-path> <CRLF>
Identifies recipient of mail
DATA
DATA <CRLF>
Transfer message text
RSET
RSET <CRLF>
Abort current mail transaction
NOOP
NOOP <CRLF>
No operation
QUIT
QUIT <CRLF>
Close TCP connection
SEND
SEND <SP> FROM:<reverse-path> <CRLF>
Send mail to terminal
SOML
SOML <SP> FROM:<reverse-path> <CRLF>
Send mail to terminal if possible; otherwise
to mailbox
SAML
SAML <SP> FROM:<reverse-path> <CRLF>
Send mail to terminal and mailbox
VRFY
VRFY <SP> <string> <CRLF>
Confirm user name
EXPN
EXPN <SP> <string> <CRLF>
Return membership of mailing list
HELP
HELP [<SP> <string>] <CRLF>
Send system-specific documentation
TURN
TURN <CRLF>
Reverse role of sender and receiver
<CRLF> = carriage return, line feed
<SP> = space
Square brackets denote optional elements.
Shaded commands are optional in a conformant SMTP implementation.
Table 22.1 lists the SMTP commands. Each command consists of a single
line of text, beginning with a four-letter command code followed in some cases by
an argument field. Most replies are a single-line, although multiple-line replies
are possible. The table indicates those commands that all receivers must be able
to recognize. The other commands are optional and may be ignored by the
receiver.
SMTP replies are listed in Table 22.2. Each reply begins with a three-digit
code and may be followed by additional information. The leading digit indicates the
category of the reply:
• Positive Completion reply: The requested action has been successfully com-
pleted. A new request may be initiated.
• Positive Intermediate reply: The command has been accepted, but the requested
action is being held in abeyance, pending receipt of further information. The
sender-SMTP should send another command specifying this information. This
reply is used in command sequence groups.
• Transient Negative Completion reply: The command was not accepted and the
requested action did not occur. However, the error condition is temporary and
the action may be requested again.
• Permanent Negative Completion reply: The command was not accepted and
the requested action did not occur.
22.1 / ELECTRONIC MAIL—SMTP AND MIME
749
Table 22.2
SMTP Replies
Code
Description
Positive Completion Reply
211
System status, or system help reply
214
Help message (Information on how to use the receiver or the meaning of a particular non-standard
command; this reply is useful only to the human user)
220
<domain> Service ready
221
<domain> Service closing transmission channel
250
Requested mail action okay, completed
251
User not local; will forward to <forward-path>
Positive Intermediate Reply
354
Start mail input; end with <CRLF>.<CRLF>
Transient Negative Completion Reply
421
<domain> Service not available, losing transmission channel (This may be a reply to any command
if the service knows it must shut down)
450
Requested mail action not taken: mailbox unavailable (e.g., mailbox busy)
451
Requested action aborted: local error in processing
452
Requested action not taken: insufficient system storage
Permanent Negative Completion Reply
500
Syntax error, command unrecognized (This may include errors such as command line too long)
501
Syntax error in parameters or arguments
502
Command not implemented
503
Bad sequence of commands
504
Command parameter not implemented
550
Requested action not taken: mailbox unavailable (e.g., mailbox not found, no access)
551
User not local; please try <forward-path>
552
Requested mail action aborted: exceeded storage allocation
553
Requested action not taken: mailbox name not allowed (e.g., mailbox syntax incorrect)
554
Transaction failed
Basic SMTP operation occurs in three phases: connection setup, exchange of
one or more command-response pairs, and connection termination. We examine
each phase in turn.
Connection Setup An SMTP sender will attempt to set up a TCP connection
with a target host when it has one or more mail messages to deliver to that host. The
sequence is quite simple:
1. The sender opens a TCP connection with the receiver.
2. Once the connection is established, the receiver identifies itself with “220 Service
Ready.”
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CHAPTER 22 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS
3. The sender identifies itself with the HELO command.
4. The receiver accepts the sender’s identification with “250 OK.”
If the mail service on the destination is unavailable, the destination
host returns a “421 Service Not Available” reply in step 2 and the process is ter-
minated.
Mail Transfer Once a connection has been established, the SMTP sender may
send one or more messages to the SMTP receiver. There are three logical phases to
the transfer of a message:
1. A MAIL command identifies the originator of the message.
2. One or more RCPT commands identify the recipients for this message.
3. A DATA command transfers the message text.
The MAIL command gives the reverse path, which can be used to report
errors. If the receiver is prepared to accept messages from this originator, it
returns a “250 OK” reply. Otherwise the receiver returns a reply indicating failure
to execute the command (codes 451, 452, 552) or an error in the command (codes
421, 500, 501).
The RCPT command identifies an individual recipient of the mail
data; multiple recipients are specified by multiple use of this command. A
separate reply is returned for each RCPT command, with one of the following
possibilities:
1. The receiver accepts the destination with a 250 reply; this indicates that the
designated mailbox is on the receiver’s system.
2. The destination will require forwarding and the receiver will forward (251).
3. The destination requires forwarding but the receiver will not forward; the sender
must resend to the forwarding address (551).
4. A mailbox does not exist for this recipient at this host (550).
5. The destination is rejected due to some other failure to execute (codes 450,
451, 452, 552, 553) or an error in the command (codes 421, 500, 501, 503).
The advantage of using a separate RCPT phase is that the sender will not send
the message until it is assured that the receiver is prepared to receive the message for
at least one recipient, thereby avoiding the overhead of sending an entire message
only to learn that the destination is unknown. Once the SMTP receiver has agreed to
receive the mail message for at least one recipient, the SMTP sender uses the DATA
command to initiate the transfer of the message. If the SMTP receiver is still pre-
pared to receive the message, it returns a 354 message; otherwise the receiver returns
a reply indicating failure to execute the command (codes 451, 554) or an error in the
command (codes 421, 500, 501, 503). If the 354 reply is returned, the SMTP sender
proceeds to send the message over the TCP connection as a sequence of ASCII lines.
The end of the message is indicated by a line containing only a period. The SMTP
receiver responds with a 250 OK reply if the message is accepted or with the appro-
priate error code (451, 452, 552, 554).
22.1 / ELECTRONIC MAIL—SMTP AND MIME
751
An example, taken from RFC 821, illustrates the process:
S: MAIL FROM:<Smith@Alpha.ARPA>
R: 250 OK
S: RCPT TO:<Jones@Beta.ARPA>
R: 250 OK
S: RCPT TO:<Green@Beta.ARPA>
R: 550 No such user here
S: RCPT TO:<Brown@Beta.ARPA>
R: 250 OK
S: DATA
R: 354 Start mail input; end with <CRLF>.<CRLF>
S: Blah blah blah...
S: ...etc. etc. etc.
S: <CRLF>.<CRLF>
R: 250 OK
The SMTP sender is transmitting mail that originates with the user
Smith@Alpha.ARPA. The message is addressed to three users on machine Beta.ARPA,
namely, Jones, Green, and Brown. The SMTP receiver indicates that it has mailboxes
for Jones and Brown but does not have information on Green. Because at least one of
the intended recipients has been verified, the sender proceeds to send the text message.
Connection Closing The SMTP sender closes the connection in two steps. First,
the sender sends a QUIT command and waits for a reply. The second step is to initi-
ate a TCP close operation for the TCP connection. The receiver initiates its TCP
close after sending its reply to the QUIT command.
RFC 822 RFC 822 defines a format for text messages that are sent using elec-
tronic mail. The SMTP standard adopts RFC 822 as the format for use in construct-
ing messages for transmission via SMTP. In the RFC 822 context, messages are
viewed as having an envelope and contents. The envelope contains whatever infor-
mation is needed to accomplish transmission and delivery. The contents comprise
the object to be delivered to the recipient. The RFC 822 standard applies only to the
contents. However, the content standard includes a set of header fields that may
be used by the mail system to create the envelope, and the standard is intended to
facilitate the acquisition of such information by programs.
An RFC 822 message consists of a sequence of lines of text and uses a general
“memo” framework. That is, a message consists of some number of header lines,
which follow a rigid format, followed by a body portion consisting of arbitrary text.
A header line usually consists of a keyword, followed by a colon, followed by
the keyword’s arguments; the format allows a long line to be broken up into several
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CHAPTER 22 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS
lines. The most frequently used keywords are From, To, Subject, and Date. Here is an
example message:
Date: Tue, 16 Jan 1996 10:37:17 (EST)
From: “William Stallings” <ws@host.com>
Subject: The Syntax in RFC 822
To: Smith@ Other -Host.com
Cc: Jones@ Yet-Another-Host.com
Hello. This section begins the actual message body, which is delimited
from the message heading by a blank line.
Another field that is commonly found in RFC 822 headers is Message-ID. This
field contains a unique identifier associated with this message.
Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME)
MIME is an extension to the RFC 822 framework that is intended to address some
of the problems and limitations of the use of SMTP and RFC 822 for electronic
mail. [RODR02] lists the following limitations of the SMTP/822 scheme:
1.
SMTP cannot transmit executable files or other binary objects. A number of
schemes are in use for converting binary files into a text form that can be used
by SMTP mail systems, including the popular UNIX UUencode/UUdecode
scheme. However, none of these is a standard or even a de facto standard.
2.
SMTP cannot transmit text data that includes national language characters
because these are represented by 8-bit codes with values of 128 decimal or
higher, and SMTP is limited to 7-bit ASCII.
3.
SMTP servers may reject mail messages over a certain size.
4.
SMTP gateways that translate between the character codes ASCII and EBCDIC
do not use a consistent set of mappings, resulting in translation problems.
5.
SMTP gateways to X.400 electronic mail networks cannot handle nontextual
data included in X.400 messages.
6.
Some SMTP implementations do not adhere completely to the SMTP standards
defined in RFC 821. Common problems include
• Deletion, addition, or reordering of carriage return and linefeed
• Truncating or wrapping lines longer than 76 characters
• Removal of trailing white space (tab and space characters)
• Padding of lines in a message to the same length
• Conversion of tab characters into multiple space characters
MIME is intended to resolve these problems in a manner that is compatible
with existing RFC 822 implementations. The specification is provided in RFCs 2045
through 2049.
22.1 / ELECTRONIC MAIL—SMTP AND MIME
753
Overview The MIME specification includes the following elements:
1. Five new message header fields are defined, which may be included in an RFC
822 header. These fields provide information about the body of the message.
2. A number of content formats are defined, thus standardizing representations
that support multimedia electronic mail.
3. Transfer encodings are defined that enable the conversion of any content for-
mat into a form that is protected from alteration by the mail system.
In this subsection, we introduce the five message header fields. The next two
subsections deal with content formats and transfer encodings.
The five header fields defined in MIME are as follows:
• MIME-Version: Must have the parameter value 1.0. This field indicates that
the message conforms to the RFCs.
• Content-Type: Describes the data contained in the body with sufficient detail that
the receiving user agent can pick an appropriate agent or mechanism to present
the data to the user or otherwise deal with the data in an appropriate manner.
• Content-Transfer-Encoding: Indicates the type of transformation that has
been used to represent the body of the message in a way that is acceptable for
mail transport.
• Content-ID: Used to uniquely identify MIME entities in multiple contexts.
• Content-Description: A plaintext description of the object with the body; this
is useful when the object is not displayable (e.g., audio data).
Any or all of these fields may appear in a normal RFC 822 header. A
compliant implementation must support the MIME-Version, Content-Type, and
Content-Transfer-Encoding fields; the Content-ID and Content-Description fields
are optional and may be ignored by the recipient implementation.
MIME Content Types The bulk of the MIME specification is concerned with
the definition of a variety of content types. This reflects the need to provide stan-
dardized ways of dealing with a wide variety of information representations in a
multimedia environment.
Table 22.3 lists the MIME content types. There are seven different major types
of content and a total of 14 subtypes. In general, a content type declares the general
type of data, and the subtype specifies a particular format for that type of data.
For the text type of body, no special software is required to get the full meaning of
the text, aside from support of the indicated character set. The only defined subtype is
plaintext, which is simply a string of ASCII characters or ISO 8859 characters. An ear-
lier version of the MIME specification included a richtext subtype, which allows greater
formatting flexibility. It is expected that this subtype will reappear in a later RFC.
The multipart type indicates that the body contains multiple, independent
parts. The Content-Type header field includes a parameter, called boundary, that
defines the delimiter between body parts. This boundary should not appear in any
parts of the message. Each boundary starts on a new line and consists of two
hyphens followed by the boundary value. The final boundary, which indicates the
end of the last part, also has a suffix of two hyphens. Within each part, there may be
an optional ordinary MIME header.
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CHAPTER 22 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS
Table 22.3
MIME Content Types
Type
Subtype
Description
Text
Plain
Unformatted text; may be ASCII or ISO 8859.
Multipart
Mixed
The different parts are independent but are to be transmitted
together. They should be presented to the receiver in the order that
they appear in the mail message.
Parallel
Differs from Mixed only in that no order is defined for delivering the
parts to the receiver.
Alternative
The different parts are alternative versions of the same information.
They are ordered in increasing faithfulness to the original and the
recipient’s mail system should display the “best” version to the user.
Digest
Similar to Mixed, but the default type/subtype of each part is
message/rfc822.
Message
rfc822
The body is itself an encapsulated message that conforms to RFC 822.
Partial
Used to allow fragmentation of large mail items, in a way that is
transparent to the recipient.
External-body
Contains a pointer to an object that exists elsewhere.
Image
jpeg
The image is in JPEG format, JFIF encoding.
gif
The image is in GIF format.
Video
mpeg
MPEG format.
Audio
Basic
Single-channel 8-bit ISDN
m-law
encoding at a sample rate of 8 kHz.
Application
PostScript
Adobe Postscript
octet-stream
General binary data consisting of 8-bit bytes.
Here is a simple example of a multipart message, containing two parts both
consisting of simple text:
From: John Smith <js@company.com>
To: Ned Jones <ned@soft.com>
Subject: Sample message
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-type: multipart/mixed; boundary=”simple boundary”
This is the preamble. It is to be ignored, though it is a handy place for mail
composers to include an explanatory note to non-MIME conformant
readers.
—simple boundary
This is implicitly typed plain ASCII text. It does NOT end with a linebreak.
—simple boundary
Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
This is explicitly typed plain ASCII text. It DOES end with a linebreak.
—simple boundary—
This is the epilogue. It is also to be ignored.
22.1 / ELECTRONIC MAIL—SMTP AND MIME
755
There are four subtypes of the multipart type, all of which have the same over-
all syntax. The multipart/mixed subtype is used when there are multiple independent
body parts that need to be bundled in a particular order. For the multipart/parallel
subtype, the order of the parts is not significant. If the recipient’s system is appropriate,
the multiple parts can be presented in parallel. For example, a picture or text part
could be accompanied by a voice commentary that is played while the picture or text
is displayed.
For the multipart/alternative subtype, the various parts are different represen-
tations of the same information. The following is an example:
From: John Smith <js@company.com>
To: Ned Jones <ned@soft.com>
Subject: Formatted text mail
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary=”boundary42”
—boundary42
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
...plaintext version of message goes here
—boundary42
Content-Type: text/richtext
.... RFC 1341 richtext version of same message goes here ...
—boundary42—
In this subtype, the body parts are ordered in terms of increasing pref-
erence. For this example, if the recipient system is capable of displaying the
message in the richtext format, this is done; otherwise, the plaintext format
is used.
The multipart/digest subtype is used when each of the body parts is
interpreted as an RFC 822 message with headers. This subtype enables the
construction of a message whose parts are individual messages. For exam-
ple, the moderator of a group might collect e-mail messages from partici-
pants, bundle these messages, and send them out in one encapsulating
MIME message.
The message type provides a number of important capabilities in
MIME. The message/rfc822 subtype indicates that the body is an entire
message, including header and body. Despite the name of this subtype, the
encapsulated message may be not only a simple RFC 822 message, but any
MIME message.
The message/partial subtype enables fragmentation of a large mes-
sage into a number of parts, which must be reassembled at the destination.
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CHAPTER 22 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS
For this subtype, three parameters are specified in the Content-Type: Message/Par-
tial field:
• id: A value that is common to each fragment of the same message, so that the
fragments can be identified at the recipient for reassembly, but unique across
different messages.
• number: A sequence number that indicates the position of this fragment in the
original message. The first fragment is numbered 1, the second 2, and so on.
• total: The total number of parts. The last fragment is identified by having the
same value for the number and total parameters.
The message/external-body subtype indicates that the actual data to be con-
veyed in this message are not contained in the body. Instead, the body contains the
information needed to access the data. As with the other message types, the mes-
sage/external-body subtype has an outer header and an encapsulated message with
its own header. The only necessary field in the outer header is the Content-Type
field, which identifies this as a message/external-body subtype. The inner header is
the message header for the encapsulated message.
The Content-Type field in the outer header must include an access-type pa-
rameter, which has one of the following values:
•
FTP: The message body is accessible as a file using the file transfer protocol
(FTP). For this access type, the following additional parameters are manda-
tory: name, the name of the file; and site, the domain name of the host where
the file resides. Optional parameters are directory, the directory in which the
file is located; and mode, which indicates how FTP should retrieve the file
(e.g., ASCII, image). Before the file transfer can take place, the user will need
to provide a user id and password. These are not transmitted with the message
for security reasons.
•
TFTP: The message body is accessible as a file using the trivial file transfer
protocol (TFTP). The same parameters as for FTP are used, and the user id
and password must also be supplied.
•
Anon-FTP: Identical to FTP, except that the user is not asked to supply a user
id and password. The parameter name supplies the name of the file.
•
local-file: The message body is accessible as a file on the recipient’s machine.
•
AFS: The message body is accessible as a file via the global AFS (Andrew File
System). The parameter name supplies the name of the file.
•
mail-server: The message body is accessible by sending an e-mail message
to a mail server. A server parameter must be included that gives the e-mail
address of the server. The body of the original message, known as the
phantom body, should contain the exact command to be sent to the mail
server.
The image type indicates that the body contains a displayable image. The sub-
type, jpeg or gif, specifies the image format. In the future, more subtypes will be
added to this list.
The video type indicates that the body contains a time-varying picture image,
possibly with color and coordinated sound. The only subtype so far specified is mpeg.
22.1 / ELECTRONIC MAIL—SMTP AND MIME
757
The audio type indicates that the body contains audio data. The only subtype,
basic, conforms to an ISDN service known as “64-kbps, 8-kHz Structured, Usable
for Speech Information,” with a digitized speech algorithm referred to as
m-law
PCM (pulse code modulation). This general type is the typical way of transmitting
speech signals over a digital network. The term
refers to the specific encoding
m-law
technique; it is the standard technique used in North America and Japan. A compet-
ing system, known as A-law, is standard in Europe.
The application type refers to other kinds of data, typically either uninter-
preted binary data or information to be processed by a mail-based application. The
application/octet-stream subtype indicates general binary data in a sequence of
octets. RFC 2045 recommends that the receiving implementation should offer to put
the data in a file or use the data as input to a program.
The application/Postscript subtype indicates the use of Adobe Postscript.
MIME Transfer Encodings The other major component of the MIME specifi-
cation, in addition to content type specification, is a definition of transfer encodings
for message bodies. The objective is to provide reliable delivery across the largest
range of environments.
The MIME standard defines two methods of encoding data. The Content-
Transfer-Encoding field can actually take on six values, as listed in Table 22.4.
However, three of these values (7bit, 8bit, and binary) indicate that no encoding
has been done but provide some information about the nature of the data. For
SMTP transfer, it is safe to use the 7bit form. The 8bit and binary forms may be
usable in other mail transport contexts. Another Content-Transfer-Encoding
value is x-token, which indicates that some other encoding scheme is used, for
which a name is to be supplied. This could be a vendor-specific or application-
specific scheme. The two actual encoding schemes defined are quoted-printable
and base64.Two schemes are defined to provide a choice between a transfer tech-
nique that is essentially human readable, and one that is safe for all types of data
in a way that is reasonably compact.
The quoted-printable transfer encoding is useful when the data consist largely
of octets that correspond to printable ASCII characters. In essence, it represents
nonsafe characters by the hexadecimal representation of their code and introduces
Table 22.4
MIME Transfer Encodings
7bit
The data are all represented by short lines of ASCII characters.
8bit
The lines are short, but there may be non-ASCII characters (octets with the high-order
bit set).
binary
Not only may non-ASCII characters be present but the lines are not necessarily short
enough for SMTP transport.
quoted-printable Encodes the data in such a way that if the data being encoded are mostly ASCII text, the
encoded form of the data remains largely recognizable by humans.
base64
Encodes data by mapping 6-bit blocks of input to 8-bit blocks of output, all of which are
printable ASCII characters.
x-token
A named nonstandard encoding.
758
CHAPTER 22 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS
reversible (soft) line breaks to limit message lines to 76 characters. The encoding
rules are as follows:
1. General 8-bit representation: This rule is to be used when none of the other
rules apply. Any character is represented by an equal sign followed by a two-
digit hexadecimal representation of the octet’s value. For example, the ASCII
form feed, which has an 8-bit value of decimal 12, is represented by
“=0C.”
2. Literal representation: Any character in the range decimal 33 (“!”) through deci-
mal 126
except decimal 61
is represented as that ASCII character.
1“
' ”2,
1“ = ”2,
3. White space: Octets with the values 9 and 32 may be represented as ASCII tab
and space characters, respectively, except at the end of a line. Any white space
(tab or blank) at the end of a line must be represented by rule 1. On decoding,
any trailing white space on a line is deleted. This eliminates any white space
added by intermediate transport agents.
4. Line breaks: Any line break, regardless of its initial representation, is represented
by the RFC 822 line break, which is a carriage-return/line-feed combination.
5. Soft line breaks: If an encoded line would be longer than 76 characters (exclud-
ing <CRLF>), a soft line break must be inserted at or before character position
75. A soft line break consists of the hexadecimal sequence 3D0D0A, which is
the ASCII code for an equal sign followed by carriage return, line feed.
The base64 transfer encoding , also known as radix-64 encoding, is a common one
for encoding arbitrary binary data in such a way as to be invulnerable to the processing
by mail transport programs. This technique maps arbitrary binary input into printable
character output. The form of encoding has the following relevant characteristics:
1. The range of the function is a character set that is universally representable at
all sites, not a specific binary encoding of that character set. Thus, the charac-
ters themselves can be encoded into whatever form is needed by a specific sys-
tem. For example, the character “E” is represented in an ASCII-based system
as hexadecimal 45 and in an EBCDIC-based system as hexadecimal C5.
2. The character set consists of 65 printable characters, one of which is used for
padding. With
available characters, each character can be used to repre-
26 = 64
sent 6 bits of input.
3. No control characters are included in the set. Thus, a message encoded in radix 64
can traverse mail handling systems that scan the data stream for control characters.
4. The hyphen character (“-”) is not used. This character has significance in the
RFC 822 format and should therefore be avoided.
Table 22.5 shows the mapping of 6-bit input values to characters. The character
set consists of the alphanumeric characters plus
and “/”. The
character is
“+”
“=”
used as the padding character.
Figure 22.2 illustrates the simple mapping scheme. Binary input is processed in
blocks of 3 octets, or 24 bits. Each set of 6 bits in the 24-bit block is mapped into a
character. In the figure, the characters are shown encoded as 8-bit quantities. In this
typical case, each 24-bit input is expanded to 32 bits of output.
22.1 / ELECTRONIC MAIL—SMTP AND MIME
759
Table 22.5
Radix-64 Encoding
6-Bit
Character
6-Bit
Character
6-Bit
Character
6-Bit
Character
Value
Encoding
Value
Encoding
Value
Encoding
Value
Encoding
0
A
16
Q
32
g
48
w
1
B
17
R
33
h
49
x
2
C
18
S
34
i
50
y
3
D
19
T
35
j
51
z
4
E
20
U
36
k
52
0
5
F
21
V
37
l
53
1
6
G
22
W
38
m
54
2
7
H
23
X
39
n
55
3
8
I
24
Y
40
o
56
4
9
J
25
Z
41
p
57
5
10
K
26
a
42
q
58
6
11
L
27
b
43
r
59
7
12
M
28
c
44
s
60
8
13
N
29
d
45
t
61
9
14
O
30
e
46
u
62
+
15
P
31
f
47
v
63
/
(pad)
=
For example, consider the
24-bit raw text sequence
00100011 01011100
10010001, which can be expressed in hexadecimal as 235C91. We arrange this input
in blocks of 6 bits:
001000 110101 110010 010001
The extracted 6-bit decimal values are 8, 53, 50, and 17. Looking these up in Table
22.5 yields the radix-64 encoding as the following characters: I1yR. If these charac-
ters are stored in 8-bit ASCII format with parity bit set to zero, we have
01001001 00110001 01111001 01010010
In hexadecimal, this is 49317952. To summarize,
Input Data
Binary representation
00100011 01011100 10010001
Hexadecimal representation
235C91
Radix-64 Encoding of Input Data
Character representation
I1yR
ASCII code (8 bit, zero parity)
01001001 00110001 01111001 01010010
Hexadecimal representation
49317952
760
CHAPTER 22 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS
24 bits
R64
R64
R64
R64
4 characters
32 bits
Figure 22.2
Printable Encoding of Binary Data into Radix-64 Format
22.2
NETWORK MANAGEMENT—SNMP
Networks and distributed processing systems are of critical and growing impor-
tance in business, government, and other organizations. Within a given organiza-
tion, the trend is toward larger, more complex networks supporting more
applications and more users. As these networks grow in scale, two facts become
painfully evident:
• The network and its associated resources and distributed applications become
indispensable to the organization.
• More things can go wrong, disabling the network or a portion of the network
or degrading performance to an unacceptable level.
A large, reliable network cannot be put together and managed by human effort
alone. The complexity of such a system dictates the use of automated network man-
agement tools. The urgency of the need for such tools is increased, and the difficulty
of supplying such tools is also increased, if the network includes equipment from
multiple vendors. In response, standards that deal with network management have
been developed, covering services, protocols, and management information base.
This section begins with an introduction to the overall concepts of standard-
ized network management. The remainder of the section is devoted to a discussion
of SNMP, the most widely used network management standard.
Network Management Systems
A network management system is a collection of tools for network monitoring and
control that is integrated in the following senses:
• A single operator interface with a powerful but user-friendly set of commands
for performing most or all network management tasks.
22.2 / NETWORK MANAGEMENT—SNMP
761
• A minimal amount of additional equipment. That is, most of the hardware and
software required for network management is incorporated into the existing
user equipment.
A network management system consists of incremental hardware and soft-
ware additions implemented among existing network components. The software
used in accomplishing the network management tasks resides in the host computers
and communications processors (e.g., networks switches, routers). A network man-
agement system is designed to view the entire network as a unified architecture,
with addresses and labels assigned to each point and the specific attributes of each
element and link known to the system. The active elements of the network provide
regular feedback of status information to the network control center.
Simple Network Management Protocol Version 1 (SNMPv1)
SNMP was developed for use as a network management tool for networks and
internetworks operating TCP/IP. It has since been expanded for use in all types
of networking environments. The term simple network management protocol
(SNMP) is actually used to refer to a collection of specifications for network
management that include the protocol itself, the definition of a database, and associ-
ated concepts.
Basic Concepts The model of network management that is used for SNMP
includes the following key elements:
• Management station, or manager
• Agent
• Management information base
• Network management protocol
The management station is typically a standalone device, but may be a capa-
bility implemented on a shared system. In either case, the management station
serves as the interface for the human network manager into the network manage-
ment system. The management station will have, at minimum,
• A set of management applications for data analysis, fault recovery, and so on
• An interface by which the network manager may monitor and control the
network
• The capability of translating the network manager’s requirements into the
actual monitoring and control of remote elements in the network
• A database of network management information extracted from the data-
bases of all the managed entities in the network
Only the last two elements are the subject of SNMP standardization.
The other active element in the network management system is the
management agent. Key platforms, such as hosts, bridges, routers, and hubs, may
be equipped with agent software so that they may be managed from a manage-
ment station. The agent responds to requests for information from a management
station, responds to requests for actions from the management station, and may
762
CHAPTER 22 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS
asynchronously provide the management station with important but unsolicited
information.
To manage resources in the network, each resource is represented as an
object. An object is, essentially, a data variable that represents one aspect of the
managed agent.The collection of objects is referred to as a management informa-
tion base (MIB). The MIB functions as a collection of access points at the agent
for the management station. These objects are standardized across systems of a
particular class (e.g., bridges all support the same management objects). A man-
agement station performs the monitoring function by retrieving the value of MIB
objects.A management station can cause an action to take place at an agent or can
change the configuration settings of an agent by modifying the value of specific
variables.
The management station and agents are linked by a network management
protocol. The protocol used for the management of TCP/IP networks is the Simple
Network Management Protocol (SNMP). An enhanced version of SNMP, known as
SNMPv2, is intended for both TCP/IP- and OSI-based networks. Each of these
protocols includes the following key capabilities:
• Get: Enables the management station to retrieve the value of objects at the
agent
• Set: Enables the management station to set the value of objects at the agent
• Notify: Enables an agent to send unsolicited notifications to the management
station of significant events
In a traditional centralized network management scheme, one host in the
configuration has the role of a network management station; there may be one or
two other management stations in a backup role. The remainder of the devices on
the network contain agent software and a MIB, to allow monitoring and control
from the management station. As networks grow in size and traffic load, such a
centralized system is unworkable. Too much burden is placed on the management
station, and there is too much traffic, with reports from every single agent having to
wend their way across the entire network to headquarters. In such circumstances, a
decentralized, distributed approach works best (e.g., Figure 22.3). In a decentralized
network management scheme, there may be multiple top-level management
stations, which might be referred to as management servers. Each such server might
directly manage a portion of the total pool of agents. However, for many of the
agents, the management server delegates responsibility to an intermediate manager.
The intermediate manager plays the role of manager to monitor and control the
agents under its responsibility. It also plays an agent role to provide information and
accept control from a higher-level management server. This type of architecture
spreads the processing burden and reduces total network traffic.
Network Management Protocol Architecture SNMP is an application-
level protocol that is part of the TCP/IP protocol suite. It is intended to operate over
the user datagram protocol (UDP). Figure 22.4 suggests the typical configuration of
protocols for SNMPv1. For a standalone management station, a manager process
controls access to a central MIB at the management station and provides an inter-
face to the network manager. The manager process achieves network management
22.2 / NETWORK MANAGEMENT—SNMP
763
Management server
Central site
(manager)
Ethernet
Router
Router
Intermediate manager
(agent)
(agent)
(manager/agent)
Agent
Agent
Router
(agent)
Router
(agent)
Internet
Agent
Router
Ethernet
(agent)
Agent
Agent
Router
(agent)
Ethernet
Agent
Agent
switch
Ethernet
Agent
Agent
Agent
Agent
Agent
Figure 22.3
Example Distributed Network Management Configuration
by using SNMP, which is implemented on top of UDP, IP, and the relevant network-
dependent protocols (e.g., Ethernet, ATM, frame relay).
Each agent must also implement SNMP, UDP, and IP. In addition, there is an
agent process that interprets the SNMP messages and controls the agent’s MIB. For
an agent device that supports other applications, such as FTP, TCP as well as UDP is
required. In Figure 22.4, the shaded portions depict the operational environment:
that which is to be managed. The unshaded portions provide support to the network
management function.
Figure 22.5 provides a somewhat closer look at the protocol context of SNMP.
From a management station, three types of SNMP messages are issued on behalf of a
management applications: GetRequest, GetNextRequest, and SetRequest. The first
two are two variations of the get function. All three messages are acknowledged by
the agent in the form of a GetResponse message, which is passed up to the
management application. In addition, an agent may issue a trap message in response
to an event that affects the MIB and the underlying managed resources. Management
requests are sent to UDP port 161, while the agent sends traps to UDP port 162.
Because SNMP relies on UDP, which is a connectionless protocol, SNMP is
itself connectionless. No ongoing connections are maintained between a manage-
ment station and its agents. Instead, each exchange is a separate transaction
between a management station and an agent.
764
CHAPTER 22 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS
Management station
Host
Network
Manager
Agent
User
manager
processes
process
processes
Central
SNMP
SNMP
FTP, etc.
MIB
UDP
UDP
TCP
IP
IP
Network-dependent
Network-dependent protocols
protocols
Internet
Host
Router
Agent
User
Agent
process
processes
process
SNMP
FTP, etc.
SNMP
UDP
TCP
UDP
IP
IP
Network-dependent
Network-dependent protocols
protocols
Figure 22.4
SNMPv1 Configuration
Simple Network Management Protocol Version 2 (SNMPv2)
In August of 1988, the specification for SNMP was issued and rapidly became the
dominant network management standard. A number of vendors offer standalone
network management workstations based on SNMP, and most vendors of bridges,
routers, workstations, and PCs offer SNMP agent packages that allow their products
to be managed by an SNMP management station.
As the name suggests, SNMP is a simple tool for network management.
It defines a limited, easily implemented MIB of scalar variables and two-
dimensional tables, and it defines a streamlined protocol to enable a manager to
get and set MIB variables and to enable an agent to issue unsolicited notifica-
tions, called traps. This simplicity is the strength of SNMP. SNMP is easily imple-
mented and consumes modest processor and network resources. Also, the
structure of the protocol and the MIB are sufficiently straightforward that it is
not difficult to achieve interoperability among management stations and agent
software from a mix of vendors.
With its widespread use, the deficiencies of SNMP became increasingly appar-
ent; these include both functional deficiencies and a lack of a security facility. As a
result, an enhanced version, known as SNMPv2, was issued (RFCs 1901, 1905 through
1909, and 2578 through 2580). SNMPv2 has quickly gained support, and a number of
vendors announced products within months of the issuance of the standard.
22.2 / NETWORK MANAGEMENT—SNMP
765
SNMP management station
SNMP agent
Managed resources
Management application
SNMP-managed objects
Application
manages objects
SNMP manager
SNMP agent
SNMP messages
UDP
UDP
IP
IP
Network-dependent protocols
Network-dependent protocols
Network or
internet
Figure 22.5
The Role of SNMPv1
The Elements of SNMPv2 As with SNMPv1, SNMPv2 provides a framework
on which network management applications can be built. Those applications, such as
fault management, performance monitoring, accounting, and so on, are outside the
scope of the standard.
SNMPv2 provides the infrastructure for network management. Figure 22.6 is
an example of a configuration that illustrates that infrastructure.
The essence of SNMPv2 is a protocol that is used to exchange management
information. Each “player” in the network management system maintains a local
database of information relevant to network management, known as the MIB. The
SNMPv2 standard defines the structure of this information and the allowable data
types; this definition is known as the structure of management information (SMI). We
can think of this as the language for defining management information. The standard
also supplies a number of MIBs that are generally useful for network management.1
In addition, new MIBs may be defined by vendors and user groups.
At least one system in the configuration must be responsible for network man-
agement. It is here that any network management applications are hosted. There
may be more than one of these management stations, to provide redundancy or
simply to split up the duties in a large network. Most other systems act in the role of
agent. An agent collects information locally and stores it for later access by a
1There is a slight fuzziness about the term MIB. In its singular form, the term MIB can be used to refer to
the entire database of management information at a manager or an agent. It can also be used in singular
or plural form to refer to a specific defined collection of management information that is part of an over-
all MIB. Thus, the SNMPv2 standard includes the definition of several MIBs and incorporates, by refer-
ence, MIBs defined in SNMPv1.
766
CHAPTER 22 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS
Manager server
Management applications
SNMPv2 manager
MIB
Element manager
SNMPv2
SNMPv2
manager/agent
manager/agent
MIB
MIB
Agent
SNMPv2 agent
SNMPv2 agent
SNMPv2 agent
MIB
MIB
MIB
Figure 22.6
SNMPv2-Managed Configuration
manager. The information includes data about the system itself and may also
include traffic information for the network or networks to which the agent attaches.
SNMPv2 supports either a highly centralized network management strategy or a
distributed one. In the latter case, some systems operate both in the role of manager
and of agent. In its agent role, such a system will accept commands from a superior
management system. Some of those commands relate to the local MIB at the agent.
Other commands require the agent to act as a proxy for remote devices. In this case, the
proxy agent assumes the role of manager to access information at a remote agent, and
then assumes the role of an agent to pass that information on to a superior manager.
All of these exchanges take place using the SNMPv2 protocol, which is a sim-
ple request/response type of protocol. Typically, SNMPv2 is implemented on top of
the user datagram protocol (UDP), which is part of the TCP/IP suite. Because
22.2 / NETWORK MANAGEMENT—SNMP
767
SNMPv2 exchanges are in the nature of discrete request-response pairs, an ongoing
reliable connection is not required.
Structure of Management Information The SMI defines the general
framework within which a MIB can be defined and constructed.The SMI identifies
the data types that can be used in the MIB, and how resources within the MIB are
represented and named.The philosophy behind SMI is to encourage simplicity and
extensibility within the MIB. Thus, the MIB can store only simple data types:
scalars and two-dimensional arrays of scalars, called tables. The SMI does not sup-
port the creation or retrieval of complex data structures.This philosophy is in con-
trast to that used with OSI systems management, which provides for complex data
structures and retrieval modes to support greater functionality. SMI avoids com-
plex data types and structures to simplify the task of implementation and to
enhance interoperability. MIBs will inevitably contain vendor-created data types
and, unless tight restrictions are placed on the definition of such data types, inter-
operability will suffer.
There are three key elements in the SMI specification. At the lowest level, the
SMI specifies the data types that may be stored. Then the SMI specifies a formal
technique for defining objects and tables of objects. Finally, the SMI provides a
scheme for associating a unique identifier with each actual object in a system, so
that data at an agent can be referenced by a manager.
Table 22.6 shows the data types that are allowed by the SMI. This is a fairly
restricted set of types. For example, real numbers are not supported. However, it is
rich enough to support most network management requirements.
Protocol Operation The heart of the SNMPv2 framework is the protocol itself.
The protocol provides a straightforward, basic mechanism for the exchange of man-
agement information between manager and agent.
Table 22.6
Allowable Data Types in SNMPv2
Data Type
Description
31
INTEGER
Integers in the range of
-2
to
231
- 1.
UInteger32
Integers in the range of 0 to
232 - 1.
Counter32
A nonnegative integer that may be incremented modulo
232.
Counter64
A nonnegative integer that may be incremented modulo
264.
Gauge32
A nonnegative integer that may increase or decrease, but shall not exceed a
maximum value. The maximum value can not be greater than
232 - 1.
TimeTicks
A nonnegative integer that represents the time, modulo
232,
in hundredths of a
second.
OCTET STRING
Octet strings for arbitrary binary or textual data; may be limited to 255 octets.
IpAddress
A 32-bit internet address.
Opaque
An arbitrary bit field.
BIT STRING
An enumeration of named bits.
OBJECT IDENTIFIER
Administratively assigned name to object or other standardized element.
Value is a sequence of up to 128 nonnegative integers.
768
CHAPTER 22 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS
t
PDU type
request-id
0
0
variable-bindings
(a) GetRequest-PDU, GetNextRequest-PDU, SetRequest-PDU, SNMPv2-Trap-PDU, InformRequest-PDU
PDU type
request-id
error-status
error-index
variable-bindings
(b) Response-PDU
PDU type
request-id
non-repeaters
max-repetitions
variable-bindings
(c) GetBulkRequest-PDU
name1
value1
name2
value2
•
•
•
namen
valuen
(d) variable-bindings
Figure 22.7
SNMPv2 PDU Format
The basic unit of exchange is the message, which consists of an outer message
wrapper and an inner protocol data unit (PDU). The outer message header deals
with security and is discussed later in this section.
Seven types of PDUs may be carried in an SNMP message. The general for-
mats for these are illustrated informally in Figure 22.7. Several fields are common to
a number of PDUs. The request-id field is an integer assigned such that each out-
standing request can be uniquely identified. This enables a manager to correlate
incoming responses with outstanding requests. It also enables an agent to cope with
duplicate PDUs generated by an unreliable transport service. The variable-bindings
field contains a list of object identifiers; depending on the PDU, the list may also
include a value for each object.
The GetRequest-PDU, issued by a manager, includes a list of one or more
object names for which values are requested. If the get operation is successful, then
the responding agent will send a Response-PDU. The variable-bindings list will con-
tain the identifier and value of all retrieved objects. For any variables that are not in
the relevant MIB view, its identifier and an error code are returned in the variable-
bindings list. Thus, SNMPv2 permits partial responses to a GetRequest, which is a
significant improvement over SNMP. In SNMP, if one or more of the variables in a
GetRequest is not supported, the agent returns an error message with a status of
noSuchName. To cope with such an error, the SNMP manager must either return no
values to the requesting application, or it must include an algorithm that responds to
an error by removing the missing variables, resending the request, and then sending
a partial result to the application.
The GetNextRequest-PDU also is issued by a manager and includes a list of
one or more objects. In this case, for each object named in the variable-bindings
field, a value is to be returned for the object that is next in lexicographic order,
which is equivalent to saying next in the MIB in terms of its position in the tree
structure of object identifiers. As with the GetRequest-PDU, the agent will
return values for as many variables as possible. One of the strengths of the
GetNextRequest-PDU is that it enables a manager entity to discover the
structure of a MIB view dynamically.This is useful if the manager does not know
22.2 / NETWORK MANAGEMENT—SNMP
769
a priori the set of objects that are supported by an agent or that are in a particu-
lar MIB view.
One of the major enhancements provided in SNMPv2 is the GetBulkRequest
PDU. The purpose of this PDU is to minimize the number of protocol exchanges
required to retrieve a large amount of management information. The GetBulkRe-
quest PDU allows an SNMPv2 manager to request that the response be as large as
possible given the constraints on message size.
The SetRequest-PDU is issued by a manager to request that the values of
one or more objects be altered. The receiving SNMPv2 entity responds with a
Response-PDU containing the same request-id. The SetRequest operation is
atomic: Either all of the variables are updated or none are. If the responding
entity is able to set values for all of the variables listed in the incoming variable-
bindings list, then the Response-PDU includes the variable-bindings field, with
a value supplied for each variable. If at least one of the variable values cannot be
supplied, then no values are returned, and no values are updated. In the latter
case, the error-status code indicates the reason for the failure, and the error-
index field indicates the variable in the variable-bindings list that caused the
failure.
The SNMPv2-Trap-PDU is generated and transmitted by an SNMPv2 entity
acting in an agent role when an unusual event occurs. It is used to provide the man-
agement station with an asynchronous notification of some significant event. The
variable-bindings list is used to contain the information associated with the trap
message. Unlike the GetRequest, GetNextRequest, GetBulkRequest, SetRequest,
and InformRequest-PDUs, the SNMPv2-Trap-PDU does not elicit a response from
the receiving entity; it is an unconfirmed message.
The InformRequest-PDU is sent by an SNMPv2 entity acting in a manager
role, on behalf of an application, to another SNMPv2 entity acting in a manager role,
to provide management information to an application using the latter entity. As with
the SNMPv2-Trap-PDU, the variable-bindings field is used to convey the associated
information. The manager receiving an InformRequest acknowledges receipt with a
Response-PDU.
For both the SNMPv2-Trap and the InformRequest, various conditions can be
defined that indicate when the notification is generated; the information to be sent
is also specified.
Simple Network Management Protocol Version 3 (SNMPv3)
Many of the functional deficiencies of SNMP were addressed in SNMPv2. To cor-
rect the security deficiencies of SNMPv1/v2, SNMPv3 was issued as a set of Pro-
posed Standards in January 1998 (currently RFCs 2570 through 2575). This set of
documents does not provide a complete SNMP capability but rather defines an
overall SNMP architecture and a set of security capabilities. These are intended to
be used with the existing SNMPv2.
SNMPv3 provides three important services: authentication, privacy, and access
control. The first two are part of the User-Based Security model (USM), and the last
is defined in the View-Based Access Control Model (VACM). Security services are
governed by the identity of the user requesting the service; this identity is expressed
770
CHAPTER 22 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS
as a principal, which may be an individual or an application or a group of individu-
als or applications.
The authentication mechanism in USM assures that a received message was
transmitted by the principal whose identifier appears as the source in the message
header. This mechanism also assures that the message has not been altered in
transit and has not been artificially delayed or replayed. The sending principal
provides authentication by including a message authentication code with the
SNMP message it is sending.This code is a function of the contents of the message,
the identity of the sending and receiving parties, the time of transmission, and a
secret key that should be known only to sender and receiver. The secret key must
be set up outside of USM as a configuration function. That is, the configuration
manager or network manager is responsible for distributing secret keys to be
loaded into the databases of the various SNMP managers and agents. This can be
done manually or using some form of secure data transfer outside of USM. When
the receiving principal gets the message, it uses the same secret key to calculate
the message authentication code once again. If the receiver’s version of the code
matches the value appended to the incoming message, then the receiver knows
that the message can only have originated from the authorized manager and that
the message was not altered in transit.The shared secret key between sending and
receiving parties must be preconfigured. The actual authentication code used is
known as HMAC, which is an Internet-standard authentication mechanism.
The privacy facility of USM enables managers and agents to encrypt messages.
Again, manager principal and agent principal must share a secret key. In this case, if
the two are configured to use the privacy facility, all traffic between them is encrypted
using the Data Encryption Standard (DES). The sending principal encrypts the mes-
sage using the DES algorithm and its secret key and sends the message to the receiv-
ing principal, which decrypts it using the DES algorithm and the same secret key.
The access control facility makes it possible to configure agents to provide dif-
ferent levels of access to the agent’s MIB to different managers. An agent principal
can restrict access to its MIB for a particular manager principal in two ways. First, it
can restrict access to a certain portion of its MIB. For example, an agent may restrict
most manager parties to viewing performance-related statistics and only allow a sin-
gle designated manager principal to view and update configuration parameters. Sec-
ond, the agent can limit the operations that a manager can use on that portion of the
MIB. For example, a particular manager principal could be limited to read-only
access to a portion of an agent’s MIB. The access control policy to be used by an
agent for each manager must be preconfigured and essentially consists of a table
that detail the access privileges of the various authorized managers.
22.3 RECOMMENDED READING AND WEB SITES
[KHAR98] provides an overview of SMTP. [ROSE98] provides a book-length treatment of
electronic mail, including some coverage of SMTP and MIME. [STAL99] provides a compre-
hensive and detailed examination of SNMP, SNMPv2, and SNMPv3; the book also provides
an overview of network management technology. One of the few textbooks on the subject of
network management is [SUBR00].
22.4 / KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
771
KHAR98c Khare, R.
“The Spec’s in the Mail.” IEEE Internet Computing,
September/October 1998.
ROSE98
Rose, M., and Strom, D. Internet Messaging: From the Desktop to the Enter-
prise. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1998.
STAL99
Stallings, W. SNMP, SNMPv2, SNMPv3, and RMON 1 and 2. Reading, MA:
Addison-Wesley, 1999.
SUBR00
Subranamian, M. Network Management: Principles and Practice. Reading, MA:
Addison-Wesley, 2000.
Recommended Web sites:
• SMTP/MIME RFCS: A complete list, maintained by IETF.
• Simple Web Site: Maintained by the University of Twente. It is a good source of
information on SNMP, including pointers to many public-domain implementa-
tions and lists of books and articles.
22.4 KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
Key Terms
agent
management station
radix-64 encoding
base64
Multipurpose Internet Mail
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
electronic mail
Extension (MIME)
(SMTP)
management information base
network management protocol
Simple Network Management
(MIB)
network management system
Protocol (SNMP)
Review Questions
22.1
What is the difference between the RFC 821 and RFC 822?
22.2
What are the SMTP and MIME standards?
22.3
What is the difference between a MIME content type and a MIME transfer
encoding?
22.4
Briefly explain radix-64 encoding.
22.5
What is a network management system?
22.6
List and briefly define the key elements of SNMP.
22.7
What functions are provided by SNMP?
22.8
What are the differences among SNMPv1, SNMPv2, and SNMPv3?
Problems
22.1
Electronic mail systems differ in the manner in which multiple recipients are handled.
In some systems, the originating user agent or mail sender makes all the necessary
772
CHAPTER 22 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS
copies and these are sent out independently. An alternative approach is to determine
the route for each destination first. Then a single message is sent out on a common
portion of the route and copies are only made when the routes diverge; this process is
referred to as mail-bagging. Discuss the relative advantages and disadvantages of the
two methods.
22.2
Excluding the connection establishment and termination, what is the minimum num-
ber of network round trips to send a small email message using SMTP?
22.3
Explain the differences between the intended use for the quoted-printable and
Base64 encodings
22.4
Suppose you need to send one message to three different users: user1@example.com,
user2@example.com, and user3@example.com. Is there any difference between send-
ing one separate message per user and sending only one message with multiple
(three) recipients? Explain.
22.5
We’ve seen that the character sequence “<CR><LF>.<CR><LF>” indicates the end
of mail data to a SMTP-server. What happens if the mail data itself contains that char-
acter sequence?
22.6
Users are free to define and use additional header fields other than the ones defined
in RFC 822. Such header fields must begin with the string “X-”. Why?
22.7
Suppose you find some technical problems with the mail account user@example.com.
Who should you try to contact in order to solve them?
22.8
Although TCP is a full-duplex protocol, SMTP uses TCP in a half-duplex fashion. The
client sends a command and then stops and waits for the reply. How can this half-
duplex operation fool the TCP slow start mechanism when the network is running
near capacity?
22.9
The original (version 1) specification of SNMP has the following definition of a new
type:
Gauge ::= [APPLICATION 2] IMPLICIT INTEGER (0..4294967295)
The standard includes the following explanation of the semantics of this type:
This application-wide type represents a non-negative integer, which may
increase or decrease, but which latches at a maximum value. This standard
specifies a maximum value of
(4294967295 decimal) for gauges.
232 - 1
Unfortunately, the word latch is not defined, and this has resulted in two different
interpretations. The SNMPv2 standard cleared up the ambiguity with the following
definition:
The value of a Gauge has its maximum value whenever the information being
modeled is greater than or equal to that maximum value; if the information
being modeled subsequently decreases below the maximum value, the Gauge
also decreases.
a. What is the alternative interpretation?
b. Discuss the pros and cons of the two interpretations.
22.10
Because SNMP uses two different port numbers (UDP ports 161 and 162), a single
system can easily run both a manager and an agent. What would happen if the same
port number were used for both?
CHAPTER23
INTERNET APPLICATIONS—INTERNET
DIRECTORY SERVICE AND THE WORLD
WIDE WEB
23.1
Internet Directory Service: DNS
23.2
Web Access—HTTP
23.3
Recommended Reading and Web Sites
23.4
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
773
774
CHAPTER 23 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS
Life in the modern world is coming to depend more and more upon technical means
of communication. Without such technical aids the modern city-state could not exist,
for it is only by means of them that trade and business can proceed; that goods and
services can be distributed where needed; that railways can run on schedule; that law
and order are maintained; that education is possible. Communication renders true
social life practicable, for communication means organization.
—On Human Communication, Colin Cherry
KEY TOPICS
• The rapid growth in the use of the Web is due to the standardization
of all the elements that support Web applications. A key element is
HTTP, which is the protocol for the exchange of Web-based informa-
tion between Web browsers and Web servers.
• Three types of intermediate devices can be used in an HTTP net-
works: proxies, gateways, and tunnels.
• HTTP uses a request/response style of communication.
• The Domain Name System (DNS) is a directory lookup service that
provides a mapping between the name of a host on the Internet and
its numerical address.
• DNS makes use of a distributed, hierarchical database to maintain a
mapping from names to addresses and to provide related information
about hosts on the Internet.
This chapter looks at two of the most widely used and more advanced Internet
application areas. This chapter and the next should give the reader a feel for the
range and diversity of applications supported by a communications architecture.
The chapter begins with DNS, which is an essential name/address directory
lookup service for the Internet. Then we look at HTTP, which is the support pro-
tocol on which the World Wide Web (WWW) operates.
23.1 INTERNET DIRECTORY SERVICE: DNS
The Domain Name System (DNS) is a directory lookup service that provides a map-
ping between the name of a host on the Internet and its numerical address. DNS is
essential to the functioning of the Internet. It is defined in RFCs 1034 and 1035.
23.1 / INTERNET DIRECTORY SERVICE: DNS
775
Four elements comprise the DNS:
• Domain name space: DNS uses a tree-structured name space to identify
resources on the Internet.
• DNS database: Conceptually, each node and leaf in the name space tree struc-
ture names a set of information (e.g., IP address, type of resource) that is con-
tained in a resource record (RR). The collection of all RRs is organized into a
distributed database.
• Name servers: These are server programs that hold information about a por-
tion of the domain name tree structure and the associated RRs.
• Resolvers: These are programs that extract information from name servers in
response to client requests. A typical client request is for an IP address corre-
sponding to a given domain name.
In the next two sections, we examine domain names and the DNS database,
respectively. We then describe the operation of DNS, which includes a discussion of
name servers and resolvers.
Domain Names
The 32-bit IP address provides a way of uniquely identifying devices attached to
the Internet. This address is interpreted as having two components: a network
number, which identifies a network on the Internet, and a host address, which
identifies a unique host on that network. The practical use of IP addresses
presents two problems:
1. Routers devise a path through the Internet on the basis of the network num-
ber. If each router needed to keep a master table that listed every network and
the preferred path to that network, the management of the tables would be
cumbersome and time consuming. It would be better to group the networks in
such a way as to simplify the routing function.
2. The 32-bit address is usually written as four decimal numbers, corresponding
to the four octets of the address. This number scheme is effective for computer
processing but is not convenient for users, who can more easily remember
names than numerical addresses.
These problems are addressed by the concept of domain. In general terms, a
domain refers to a group of hosts that are under the administrative control of a sin-
gle entity, such as a company or government agency. Domains are organized hier-
archically, so that a given domain may consist of a number of subordinate domains.
Names are assigned to domains and reflect this hierarchical organization.
Figure 23.1 shows a portion of the domain naming tree. At the very top level
are a small number of domains that encompass the entire Internet. Table 23.1 lists
currently defined top-level domains. Each subordinate level is named by prefixing a
subordinate name to the name at the next highest level. For example,
• edu is the domain of college-level U.S. educational institutions.
• mit.edu is the domain for M.I.T. (the Massachusetts Institute of Technology).
• lcs.mit.edu is the domain for the Laboratory for Computer Science at M.I.T.
776
CHAPTER 23 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS
(root)
com
mil
edu
gov
net
org
us
au
uk
ibm
apple
mit
treas
shore
ieee
acm
raleigh
info
ai
lcs
itso
Figure 23.1
Portion of Internet Domain Tree
Table 23.1
Top-Level Internet Domains
Domain
Contents
com
Commercial organizations
edu
Educational institutions
gov
U.S. federal government agencies
mil
U.S. military
net
Network support centers, Internet service providers, and other network-related
organizations
org
Nonprofit organizations
us
U.S. state and local government agencies, schools, libraries, and museums
country code
ISO standard 2-letter identifier for country-specific domains (e.g., au, ca, uk)
biz
Dedicated exclusively for private businesses
info
Unrestricted use
name
Individuals, for email addresses and personalized domain names.
museum
restricted to museums, museum organizations, and individual members of the
museum profession
coop
Member-owned cooperative organizations, such as credit unions
aero
Aviation community
pro
Medical, legal, and accounting professions
arpa
Temporary ARPA domain (still used)
int
International organizations
23.1 / INTERNET DIRECTORY SERVICE: DNS
777
bit
0
16
31
Domain
Name
Type
Class
Time to Live
Rdata field length
Rdata
Figure 23.2
DNS Resource Record Format
As you move down the naming tree, you eventually get to leaf nodes that iden-
tify specific hosts on the Internet. These hosts are assigned Internet addresses. An
Internet-wide organization is responsible for assigning domain names so that every
domain name is unique. The actual assignment of addresses is delegated down the
hierarchy. Thus, the mil domain is assigned a large group of addresses. The U.S.
Department of Defense (DoD) then allocates portions of this address space to var-
ious DoD organizations for eventual assignment to hosts.
For example, the main host at MIT, with a domain name of mit.edu, has four IP
addresses:
18.7.21.77,
18.7.21.69,
18.7.21.70, and
18.7.21.110. The subordinate
domain lcs.mit.edu has the IP address 18.26.0.36.1
The DNS Database
DNS is based on a hierarchical database containing resource records (RRs) that
include the name, IP address, and other information about hosts. The key features of
the database are as follows:
• Variable-depth hierarchy for names: DNS allows essentially unlimited levels
and uses the period (.) as the level delimiter in printed names, as described
earlier.
• Distributed database: The database resides in DNS servers scattered through-
out the Internet and private intranets.
• Distribution controlled by the database: The DNS database is divided into thou-
sands of separately managed zones, which are managed by separate administra-
tors. The database software controls distribution and update of records.
Using this database, DNS servers provide a name-to-address directory service
for network applications that need to locate specific servers. For example, every
time an e-mail message is sent or a Web page is accessed, there must be a DNS name
lookup to determine the IP address of the e-mail server or Web server.
Figure 23.2 shows the structure of a RR. It consists of the following elements:
• Domain Name: Although the syntax of domain names in messages, described
subsequently, is precisely defined, the form of the domain name in a RR is
1You should be able to demonstrate the name/address function by connecting your Web browser to your
local ISP. The ISP should provide a ping or nslookup tool that allows you to enter a domain name and
retrieve an IP address. Such a tool is typically available on user operating systems as well.
778
CHAPTER 23 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS
Table 23.2
Resource Record Types
Type
Description
A
A host address. This RR type maps the name of a system to its IP address. Some
systems (e.g., routers) have multiple addresses, and there is a separate RR for
each.
CNAME
Canonical name. Specifies an alias name for a host and maps this to the canonical
(true) name.
HINFO
Host information. Designates the processor and operating system used by the
host.
MINFO
Mailbox or mail list information. Maps a mailbox or mail list name to a host
name.
MX
Mail exchange. Identifies the systems that relay mail into the organization.
NS
Authoritative name server for this domain.
PTR
Domain name pointer. Points to another part of the domain name space.
SOA
Start of a zone of authority (which part of naming hierarchy is implemented).
Includes parameters related to this zone.
SRV
For a given service provides name of server or servers in domain that provide that
service.
TXT
Arbitrary text. Provides a way to add text comments to the database.
WKS
Well-known services. May list the application services available at this host.
described in general terms. In essence, the domain name in a RR must
correspond to the human readable form, which consists of a series of labels of
alphanumeric characters or hyphens, with each pair of labels separated by a
period.
• Type: Identifies the type of resource in this RR. The various types are listed in
Table 23.2.2
• Class: Identifies the protocol family. The only commonly used value is IN, for
the Internet.
• Time to Live: Typically, when a RR is retrieved from a name server, the
retriever will cache the RR so that it need not query the name server repeat-
edly. This field specifies the time interval that the resource record may be
cached before the source of the information should again be consulted. A zero
value is interpreted to mean that the RR can only be used for the transaction
in progress and should not be cached.
• Rdata Field Length: Length of the Rdata field in octets.
• Rdata: A variable-length string of octets that describes the resource. The for-
mat of this information varies according to the type of the RR. For example,
for the A type, the Rdata is a 32-bit IP address, and for the CNAME type, the
Rdata is a domain name.
2The SRV RR type is defined in RFC 2782.
23.1 / INTERNET DIRECTORY SERVICE: DNS
779
Cache
Foreign
name
server
Database
Internet
User
query
Query
User
Name
program
resolver
User
Response
response
User
Cache
system
Name
server
Database
Cache
Figure 23.3
DNS Name Resolution
DNS Operation
DNS operation typically includes the following steps (Figure 23.3):
1. A user program requests an IP address for a domain name.
2. A resolver module in the local host or local ISP formulates a query for a local
name server in the same domain as the resolver.
3. The local name server checks to see if the name is in its local database or cache,
and, if so, returns the IP address to the requestor. Otherwise, the name server
queries other available name servers, starting down from the root of the DNS
tree or as high up the tree as possible.
4. When a response is received at the local name server, it stores the name/address
mapping in its local cache and may maintain this entry for the amount of time
specified in the time to live field of the retrieved RR.
5. The user program is given the IP address or an error message.
The results of these behind-the-scenes activities are seen by the user in a way
illustrated in Figure
23.4. Here, a user issues a Telnet connection request to
locis.loc.gov. This is resolved by DNS to the IP address of 140.147.254.3.
The distributed DNS database that supports the DNS functionality must be
updated frequently because of the rapid and continued growth of the Internet.
Accordingly, dynamic updating functions for DNS have been defined. In essence,
DNS name servers automatically send out updates to other relevant name servers as
conditions warrant.
The Server Hierarchy The DNS database is distributed hierarchically, residing
in DNS name servers scattered throughout the Internet. Name servers can be oper-
ated by any organization that owns a domain; that is, any organization that has
responsibility for a subtree of the hierarchical domain name space. Each name
server is configured with a subset of the domain name space, known as a zone, which
780
CHAPTER 23 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS
telnet locis.loc.gov
Trying 140.147.254.3...
Connected to locis.loc.gov.
Escape character is '^]'.
L O C I S: LIBRARY OF CONGRESS INFORMATION SYSTEM
To make a choice: type a number, then press ENTER
1
Copyright Information
-- files available and up-to-date
2
Braille and Audio
-- files frozen mid-August 1999
3
Federal Legislation
-- files frozen December 1998
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
The LC Catalog Files are available at:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
8
Searching Hours and Basic Search Commands
9
Library of Congress General Information
10
Library of Congress Fast Facts
12
Comments and Logoff
Choice:
9
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS GENERAL INFORMATION
LC is a research library serving Congress, the federal government, the
library community world-wide, the US creative community, and any researchers
beyond high school level or age. On-site researchers request materials by
filling out request slips in LC's reading rooms; requesters must present a
photo i.d. Staff are available for assistance in all public reading rooms.
The following phone numbers offer information about hours and other services:
General Research Info:
202-707-6500
Reading Room Hours:
202-707-6400
Exhibits/Tours/Gift Shop:
202-707-8000
Location/Parking:
202-707-4700
Copyright Information:
202-707-3000
Cataloging Products:
202-707-6100
Copyright Forms:
202-707-9100
"
" fax:
202-707-1334
12
Return to LOCIS MENU screen
Choice:
Figure 23.4
A Telnet Session
is a collection of one or more (or all) subdomains within a domain, along with the
associated RRs. This set of data is called authoritative, because this name server is
responsible for maintaining an accurate set or RRs for this portion of the domain
name hierarchy. The hierarchical structure can extend to any depth. Thus, a portion
of the name space assigned to an authoritative name server can be delegated to a
subordinate name server in a way that corresponds to the structure of the domain
23.1 / INTERNET DIRECTORY SERVICE: DNS
781
Table 23.3
Internet Root Servers
Server
Operator
Cities
IP Addr
A
VeriSign Global Registry Services
Herndon VA, US
198.41.0.4
B
Information Sciences Institute
Marina Del Rey CA, US
128.9.0.107
C
Cogent Communications
Herndon VA, US
192.33.4.12
D
University of Maryland
College Park MD, US
128.8.10.90
E
NASA Ames Research Center
Mountain View CA, US
192.203.230.10
F
Internet Software Consortium
Palo Alto CA, US;
IPv4: 192.5.5.241
San Francisco CA, US
IPv6: 2001:500::1035
G
U.S. DOD Network Information
Vienna VA, US
192.112.36.4
Center
H
U.S. Army Research Lab
Aberdeen MD, US
128.63.2.53
I
Autonomica
Stockholm, SE
192.36.148.17
J
VeriSign Global Registry Services
Herndon VA, US
192.58.128.30
K
Reseaux IP Europeens—Network
London, UK
193.0.14.129
Coordination Centre
L
Internet Corporation for Assigned
Los Angeles CA, US
198.32.64.12
Names and Numbers
M
WIDE Project
Tokyo, JP
202.12.27.33
name tree. For example, a name server corresponds to the domain ibm.com. A por-
tion of that domain is defined by the name watson.ibm.com, which corresponds to
the node watson.ibm.com and all of the branches and leaf nodes underneath the
node watson.ibm.com.
At the top of the server hierarchy are 13 root name servers that share respon-
sibility for the top level zones (Table 23.3). This replication is to prevent the root
server from becoming a bottleneck. Even so, each individual root server is quite
busy. For example, the Internet Software Consortium reports that its server (F)
server.html).
Consider a query by a program on a user host for watson.ibm.com. This query
is sent to the local server and the following steps occur:
1. If the local server already has the IP address for watson.ibm.com in its local
cache, it returns the IP address.
2. If the name is not in the local name server’s cache, it sends the query to a root
server. The root server in turn forwards the request to a server with an NS record
for ibm.com. If this server has the information for watson.ibm.com, it returns the
IP address.
3. If there is a delegated name server just for watson.ibm.com, then the ibm.com
name server forwards the request to the watson.ibm.com name server, which
returns the IP address.
782
CHAPTER 23 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS
Typically, single queries are carried over UDP. Queries for a group of names
are carried over TCP.
Name Resolution As Figure 23.3 indicates, each query begins at a name
resolver located in the user host system (e.g., gethostbyname in UNIX). Each
resolver is configured to know the name and address of a local DNS name server. If
the resolver does not have the requested name in its cache, it sends a DNS query to
the local DNS server, which either returns an address immediately or does so after
querying one or more other servers. Again, resolvers use UDP for single queries and
TCP for group queries.
There are two methods by which queries are forwarded and results returned.
Suppose a name server (A) forwards a DNS request to another name server (B). If
B has the name/address in its local cache or local database, it can return the IP
address to A. If not, then B can do either of the following:
1. Query another name server for the desired result and then send the result
back to A. This is known as a recursive technique.
2. Return to A the address of the next server (C) to whom the request should be
sent. A then sends out a new DNS request to C. This is known as the iterative
technique.
In exchanges between name servers, either the iterative or recursive technique
may be used. For requests sent by a name resolver, the recursive technique is used.
DNS Messages DNS messages use a single format, shown in Figure 23.5. There
are five possible sections to a DNS message: header, question, answer, authority, and
additional records.
The header section is always present and consists of the following fields:
• Identifier: Assigned by the program that generates any kind of query. The
same identifier is used in any response, enabling the sender to match queries
and responses.
• Query Response: Indicates whether this message is a query or response.
• Opcode: Indicates whether this is a standard query, an inverse query (address
to name), or a server status request. This value is set by the originator and
copied into the response.
• Authoritative Answer: Valid in a response, and indicates whether the respond-
ing name server is an authority for the domain name in question.
• Truncated: Indicates whether the response message was truncated due to
length greater then permitted on the transmission channel. If so, the requestor
will use a TCP connection to resend the query.
• Recursion Desired: If set, directs the server to pursue the query recursively.
• Recursion Available: Set or cleared in a response to denote whether recursive
query support is available in the name server.
• Response Code: Possible values are: no error, format error (server unable to
interpret query), server failure, name error (domain name does not exist),
not implemented (this kind of query not supported), and refused (for policy
reasons).
0
8
16
21
24
28
31
Identitifier
QR
opcode
AA
TC
RD
RA
reserved
RCODE
Header
section
QDcount
ANcount
NScount
ARcount
length
label 1 . . .
Domain
Question
name
section
. . . label n
00
Query Type
Query Class
Answer Section
Authority Section
Additional Records Section
QR query/response bit
RCODE response code
AA authoritative answer
QDcount number of entries in question section
TC truncated
ANcount number of resource records in answer section
RD recursion desired
NScount number of name server resource records in authority section
RA recursion available
ARcount number of resource records in additional records section
Figure 23.5
DNS Message Format
784
CHAPTER 23 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS
• QDcount: Number of entries in question section (zero or more).
• ANcount: Number of RRs in answer section (zero or more).
• NScount: Number of RRs in authority section (zero or more).
• ARcount: Number of RRs in additional records section (zero or more).
The question section contains the queries for the name server. If present, it
typically contains only one entry. Each entry contains the following:
• Domain Name: A domain name represented as a sequence of labels, where
each label consists of a length octet followed by that number of octets. The
domain name terminates with the zero length octet for the null label of
the root.
• Query Type: Indicates type of query. The values for this field include all values
valid for the Type field in the RR format (Figure 23.2), together with some
more general codes that match more than one type of RR.
• Query Class: Specifies the class of query, typically Internet.
The answer section contains RRs that answer the question; the authority section
contains RRs that point toward an authoritative name server; the additional records
section contains RRs that relate to the query but are not strictly answers for the
question.
23.2
WEB ACCESS—HTTP
The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is the foundation protocol of the World
Wide Web (WWW) and can be used in any client/server application involving hyper-
text. The name is somewhat misleading in that HTTP is not a protocol for transfer-
ring hypertext; rather it is a protocol for transmitting information with the efficiency
necessary for making hypertext jumps. The data transferred by the protocol can be
plaintext, hypertext, audio, images, or any Internet-accessible information.
We begin with an overview of HTTP concepts and operation and then look at
some of the details, basing our discussion on the most recent version to be put on the
Internet standards track, HTTP 1.1 (RFC 2616). A number of important terms
defined in the HTTP specification are summarized in Table 23.4; these will be intro-
duced as the discussion proceeds.
HTTP Overview
HTTP is a transaction-oriented client/server protocol. The most typical use of
HTTP is between a Web browser and a Web server. To provide reliability, HTTP
makes use of TCP. Nevertheless, HTTP is a “stateless” protocol: Each transaction is
treated independently. Accordingly, a typical implementation will create a new TCP
connection between client and server for each transaction and then terminate the
connection as soon as the transaction completes, although the specification does not
dictate this one-to-one relationship between transaction and connection lifetimes.
The stateless nature of HTTP is well suited to its typical application. A normal
session of a user with a Web browser involves retrieving a sequence of Web pages
23.2 / WEB ACCESS—HTTP
785
Table 23.4
Key Terms Related to HTTP
Cache
Origin Server
A program’s local store of response messages and
The server on which a given resource resides or
the subsystem that controls its message storage,
is to be created.
retrieval, and deletion. A cache stores cacheable
responses in order to reduce the response time
Proxy
and network bandwidth consumption on future,
An intermediary program that acts
equivalent requests. Any client or server may
as both a server and a client for the purpose of
include a cache, though a cache cannot be used
making requests on behalf of other clients.
by a server while it is acting as a tunnel.
Requests are serviced internally or by passing
them, with possible translation, on to other
Client
servers. A proxy must interpret and, if
An application program that establishes
necessary, rewrite a request message before
connections for the purpose of sending requests.
forwarding it. Proxies are often used as
client-side portals through network firewalls
Connection
and as helper applications for handling requests
A transport layer virtual circuit established
via protocols not implemented by the user agent.
between two application programs for the
purposes of communication.
Resource
A network data object or service which can be
Entity
identified by a URI.
A particular representation or rendition of
a data resource, or reply from a service
Server
resource, that may be enclosed within a request
An application program that accepts
or response message. An entity consists of entity
connections in order to service requests
headers and an entity body.
by sending back responses.
Gateway
Tunnel
A server that acts as an intermediary for some
An intermediary program that is acting as a blind
other server. Unlike a proxy, a gateway receives
relay between two connections. Once active, a
requests as if it were the original server for the
tunnel is not considered a party to the HTTP
requested resource; the requesting client may
communication, though the tunnel may have
not be aware that it is communicating with a
been initiated by an HTTP request. A tunnel
gateway. Gateways are often used as server-side
ceases to exist when both ends of the relayed
portals through network firewalls and as
connections are closed. Tunnels are used when a
protocol translators for access to resources
portal is necessary and the intermediary cannot, or
stored on non-HTTP systems.
should not, interpret the relayed communication.
Message
User Agent
The basic unit of HTTP communication,
The client that initiates a request. These are
consisting of a structured sequence of octets
often browsers, editors, spiders, or other
transmitted via the connection.
end-user tools.
and documents. The sequence is, ideally, performed rapidly, and the locations of the
various pages and documents may be a number of widely distributed servers.
Another important feature of HTTP is that it is flexible in the formats that it
can handle. When a client issues a request to a server, it may include a prioritized list
of formats that it can handle, and the server replies with the appropriate format. For
example, a Lynx browser cannot handle images, so a Web server need not transmit
any images on Web pages. This arrangement prevents the transmission of unneces-
sary information and provides the basis for extending the set of formats with new
standardized and proprietary specifications.
786
CHAPTER 23 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS
Request chain
TCP connection
Response chain
User agent
Origin server
Request chain
A
B
C
User agent
Response chain
Origin server
Request chain
A
B
C
User agent
Response chain
Origin server
Figure 23.6
Examples of HTTP Operation
Figure 23.6 illustrates three examples of HTTP operation. The simplest case is
one in which a user agent establishes a direct connection with an origin server. The
user agent is the client that initiates the request, such as a Web browser being run on
behalf of an end user. The origin server is the server on which a resource of interest
resides; an example is a Web server at which a desired Web home page resides. For
this case, the client opens a TCP connection that is end-to-end between the client
and the server. The client then issues an HTTP request. The request consists of a
specific command, referred to as a method, an address [referred to as a Uniform
Resource Locator (URL)],3 and a MIME-like message containing request parame-
ters, information about the client, and perhaps some additional content information.
When the server receives the request, it attempts to perform the requested
action and then returns an HTTP response. The response includes status informa-
tion, a success/error code, and a MIME-like message containing information about
the server, information about the response itself, and possible body content. The
TCP connection is then closed.
The middle part of Figure 23.6 shows a case in which there is not an end-to-
end TCP connection between the user agent and the origin server. Instead, there are
one or more intermediate systems with TCP connections between logically adjacent
systems. Each intermediate system acts as a relay, so that a request initiated by the
3Appendix M contains a discussion of URLs.
23.2 / WEB ACCESS—HTTP
787
HTTP request
HTTP request
HTTP request over
authenticated connection
Inter-
TCP connection
mediary
User agent
Origin server
1. HTTP request
1. Non-HTTP request
2. HTTP request that must be filtered
2. Authenticated HTTP request
Inter-
mediary
User agent
Origin server
HTTP request
Tunnel
User agent
Origin server
Figure 23.7
Intermediate HTTP Systems
client is relayed through the intermediate systems to the server, and the response
from the server is relayed back to the client.
Three forms of intermediate system are defined in the HTTP specification:
proxy, gateway, and tunnel, all of which are illustrated in Figure 23.7.
Proxy A proxy acts on behalf of other clients and presents requests from other
clients to a server. The proxy acts as a server in interacting with a client and as a client
in interacting with a server. There are two scenarios that call for the use of a proxy:
• Security intermediary: The client and server may be separated by a security
intermediary such as a firewall, with the proxy on the client side of the firewall.
Typically, the client is part of a network secured by a firewall and the server is
external to the secured network. In this case, the server must authenticate
itself to the firewall to set up a connection with the proxy. The proxy accepts
responses after they have passed through the firewall.
• Different versions of HTTP: If the client and server are running different ver-
sions of HTTP, then the proxy can implement both versions and perform the
required mapping.
In summary, a proxy is a forwarding agent, receiving a request for a URL
object, modifying the request, and forwarding the request toward the server identi-
fied in the URL.
788
CHAPTER 23 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS
Gateway A gateway is a server that appears to the client as if it were an origin
server. It acts on behalf of other servers that may not be able to communicate
directly with a client. There are two scenarios in which gateways can be used.
• Security intermediary: The client and server may be separated by a security
intermediary such as a firewall, with the gateway on the server side of the
firewall. Typically, the server is connected to a network protected by a fire-
wall, with the client external to the network. In this case the client must
authenticate itself to the gateway, which can then pass the request on to the
server.
• Non-HTTP server: Web browsers have built into them the capability to
contact servers for protocols other than HTTP, such as FTP and Gopher
servers. This capability can also be provided by a gateway. The client makes
an HTTP request to a gateway server.The gateway server then contacts the
relevant FTP or Gopher server to obtain the desired result. This result is
then converted into a form suitable for HTTP and transmitted back to the
client.
Tunnel Unlike the proxy and the gateway, the tunnel performs no operations on
HTTP requests and responses. Instead, a tunnel is simply a relay point between two
TCP connections, and the HTTP messages are passed unchanged as if there were a
single HTTP connection between user agent and origin server. Tunnels are used
when there must be an intermediary system between client and server but it is not
necessary for that system to understand the contents of messages.An example is a
firewall in which a client or server external to a protected network can establish an
authenticated connection and then maintain that connection for purposes of HTTP
transactions.
Cache Returning to Figure 23.6, the lowest portion of the figure shows an example
of a cache. A cache is a facility that may store previous requests and responses for
handling new requests. If a new request arrives that is the same as a stored request,
then the cache can supply the stored response rather than accessing the resource
indicated in the URL. The cache can operate on a client or server or on an interme-
diate system other than a tunnel. In the figure, intermediary B has cached a
request/response transaction, so that a corresponding new request from the client
need not travel the entire chain to the origin server, but is handled by B.
Not all transactions can be cached, and a client or server can dictate that a cer-
tain transaction may be cached only for a given time limit.
Messages
The best way to describe the functionality of HTTP is to describe the individual ele-
ments of the HTTP message. HTTP consists of two types of messages: requests from
clients to servers, and responses from servers to clients. The general structure of
such messages is shown in Figure 23.8. More formally, using enhanced BNF
(Backus-Naur Form) notation4 (Table 23.5), we have
4A description of BNF is contained in Appendix N.
23.2 / WEB ACCESS—HTTP
789
Request Line or Status Line
General Header
Request Header or Response Header
Entity Header
Entity Body
Figure 23.8
General Structure of HTTP
Messages
Table 23.5
Augmented BNF Notation Used in URL and HTTP Specifications
• Words in lowercase represent variables or names of rules.
• A rule has the form
name = definition
• DIGIT is any decimal digit; CRLF is carriage return, line feed; SP is one or more spaces.
• Quotation marks enclose literal text.
• Angle brackets,
may be used within a definition to enclose a rule name when their presence will
“6” “7”,
facilitate clarity.
• Elements separated by bar
are alternatives.
1“ ƒ ”2
• Ordinary parentheses are used simply for grouping.
• The character
preceding an element indicates repetition. The full form is:
“*”
6I7*6J7element
indicating at least I and at most J occurrences of element.
allows any number, including 0;
* element
requires at least one element; and
allows 1 or 2 elements;
means
1*element
1*2element
6N7element
exactly N elements.
• Square brackets, “[” “]”, enclose optional elements.
• The construct “#” is used to define, with the following form:
6I7#6J7element
indicating at least I and at most J elements, each separated by a comma and optional linear white space.
• A semicolon at the right of a rule starts a comment that continues to the end of the line.
790
CHAPTER 23 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS
HTTP-Message
Simple-Request
| Simple-Response
| Full-Request
|
Full-Response
Full-Request
Request-Line
*( General-Header | Request-Header | Entity-Header )
CRLF
[ Entity-Body ]
Full-Response Status-Line
*( General-Header | Response-Header | Entity-Header )
CRLF
[ Entity-Body ]
Simple-Request
“GET” SP Request-URL CRLF
Simple-Response
[ Entity-Body ]
The Simple-Request and Simple-Response messages were defined in HTTP/0.9.
The request is a simple GET command with the requested URL; the response is sim-
ply a block containing the information identified in the URL. In HTTP/1.1, the use of
these simple forms is discouraged because it prevents the client from using content
negotiation and the server from identifying the media type of the returned entity.
With full requests and responses, the following fields are used:
• Request-Line: Identifies the message type and the requested resource
• Status-Line: Provides status information about this response
• General-Header: Contains fields that are applicable to both request and
response messages but that do not apply to the entity being transferred
• Request-Header: Contains information about the request and the client
• Response-Header: Contains information about the response
• Entity-Header: Contains information about the resource identified by the
request and information about the entity body
• Entity-Body: The body of the message
All of the HTTP headers consist of a sequence of fields, following the same
generic format as RFC 822 (described in Chapter 22). Each field begins on a new
line and consists of the field name followed by a colon and the field value.
Although the basic transaction mechanism is simple, there is a large number of
fields and parameters defined in HTTP. In the remainder of this section, we look at
the general header fields. Following sections describe request headers, response
headers, and entities.
General Header Fields General header fields can be used in both request and
response messages. These fields are applicable in both types of messages and con-
tain information that does not directly apply to the entity being transferred. The
fields are as follows:
23.2 / WEB ACCESS—HTTP
791
•
Cache-Control: Specifies directives that must be obeyed by any caching mech-
anisms along the request/response chain. The purpose is to prevent a cache
from adversely interfering with this particular request or response.
•
Connection: Contains a list of keywords and header field names that only apply
to this TCP connection between the sender and the nearest nontunnel recipient.
•
Date: Date and time at which the message originated.
•
Forwarded: Used by gateways and proxies to indicate intermediate steps along
a request or response chain. Each gateway or proxy that handles a message
may attach a Forwarded field that gives its URL.
•
Keep-Alive: May be present if the keep-alive keyword is present in an
incoming Connection field, to provide information to the requester of
the persistent connection. This field may indicate a maximum time that the
sender will keep the connection open waiting for the next request or the
maximum number of additional requests that will be allowed on the current
persistent connection.
•
MIME-Version: Indicates that the message complies with the indicated ver-
sion of MIME.
•
Pragma: Contains implementation-specific directives that may apply to any
recipient along the request/response chain.
•
Upgrade: Used in a request to specify what additional protocols the client sup-
ports and would like to use; used in a response to indicate which protocol will
be used.
Request Messages
A full request message consists of a status line followed by one or more general,
request, and entity headers, followed by an optional entity body.
Request Methods A full request message always begins with a Request-Line,
which has the following format:
Request-Line = Method SP Request-URL SP HTTP-Version CRLF
The Method parameter indicates the actual request command, called a
method in HTTP. Request-URL is the URL of the requested resource, and HTTP-
Version is the version number of HTTP used by the sender.
The following request methods are defined in HTTP/1.1:
• OPTIONS: A request for information about the options available for the
request/response chain identified by this URL.
• GET: A request to retrieve the information identified in the URL and return
it in a entity body. A GET is conditional if the If-Modified-Since header field
is included and is partial if a Range header field is included.
• HEAD: This request is identical to a GET, except that the server’s response
must not include an entity body; all of the header fields in the response are the
same as if the entity body were present. This enables a client to get informa-
tion about a resource without transferring the entity body.
792
CHAPTER 23 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS
•
POST: A request to accept the attached entity as a new subordinate to the iden-
tified URL. The posted entity is subordinate to that URL in the same way that a
file is subordinate to a directory containing it, a news article is subordinate to a
newsgroup to which it is posted, or a record is subordinate to a database.
•
PUT: A request to accept the attached entity and store it under the supplied
URL. This may be a new resource with a new URL or a replacement of the
contents of an existing resource with an existing URL.
•
PATCH: Similar to a PUT, except that the entity contains a list of differences
from the content of the original resource identified in the URL.
•
COPY: Requests that a copy of the resource identified by the URL in the
Request-Line be copied to the location(s) given in the URL-Header field in
the Entity-Header of this message.
•
MOVE: Requests that the resource identified by the URL in the Request-
Line be moved to the location(s) given in the URL-Header field in the Entity-
Header of this message. Equivalent to a COPY followed by a DELETE.
•
DELETE: Requests that the origin server delete the resource identified by
the URL in the Request-Line.
•
LINK: Establishes one or more link relationships from the resource identified in
the Request-Line. The links are defined in the Link field in the Entity-Header.
•
UNLINK: Removes one or more link relationships from the resource identi-
fied in the Request-Line. The links are defined in the Link field in the Entity-
Header.
•
TRACE: Requests that the server return whatever is received as the entity
body of the response. This can be used for testing and diagnostic purposes.
•
WRAPPED: Allows a client to send one or more encapsulated requests. The
requests may be encrypted or otherwise processed. The server must unwrap
the requests and process accordingly.
•
Extension-method: Allows additional methods to be defined without chang-
ing the protocol, but these methods cannot be assumed to be recognizable by
the recipient.
Request Header Fields Request header fields function as request modifiers,
providing additional information and parameters related to the request. The follow-
ing fields are defined in HTTP/1.1:
• Accept: A list of media types and ranges that are acceptable as a response to
this request.
• Accept-Charset: A list of character sets acceptable for the response.
• Accept-Encoding: List of acceptable content encodings for the entity body.
Content encodings are primarily used to allow a document to be compressed
or encrypted. Typically, the resource is stored in this encoding and only
decoded before actual use.
• Accept-Language: Restricts the set of natural languages that are preferred for
the response.
23.2 / WEB ACCESS—HTTP
793
•
Authorization: Contains a field value, referred to as credentials, used by the
client to authenticate itself to the server.
•
From: The Internet e-mail address for the human user who controls the
requesting user agent.
•
Host: Specifies the Internet host of the resource being requested.
•
If-Modified-Since: Used with the GET method. This header includes a
date/time parameter; the resource is to be transferred only if it has been mod-
ified since the date/time specified. This feature allows for efficient cache
update. A caching mechanism can periodically issue GET messages to an ori-
gin server, and will receive only a small response message unless an update is
needed.
•
Proxy-Authorization: Allows the client to identify itself to a proxy that
requires authentication.
•
Range: For future study. The intent is that, in a GET message, a client can
request only a portion of the identified resource.
•
Referrer: The URL of the resource from which the Request-URL was
obtained. This enables a server to generate lists of back-links.
•
Unless: Similar in function to the If-Modified-Since field, with two differences:
(1) It is not restricted to the GET method, and (2) comparison is based on any
Entity-Header field value rather than a date/time value.
•
User-Agent: Contains information about the user agent originating this
request. This is used for statistical purposes, the tracing of protocol violations,
and automated recognition of user agents for the sake of tailoring responses to
avoid particular user agent limitations.
Response Messages
A full response message consists of a status line followed by one or more general,
response, and entity headers, followed by an optional entity body.
Status Codes A full response message always begins with a Status-Line, which
has the following format:
Status-Line = HTTP-Version SP Status-Code SP Reason-Phrase CRLF
The HTTP-Version value is the version number of HTTP used by the sender.
The Status-Code is a three-digit integer that indicates the response to a received
request, and the Reason-Phrase provides a short textual explanation of the status
code.
HTTP/1.1 includes a rather large number of status codes, organized into the
following categories:
• Informational: The request has been received and processing continues. No
entity body accompanies this response.
• Successful: The request was successfully received, understood, and accepted.
The information returned in the response message depends on the request
method, as follows:
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CHAPTER 23 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS
—GET: The contents of the entity-body corresponds to the requested resource.
—HEAD: No entity body is returned.
—POST: The entity describes or contains the result of the action.
—TRACE: The entity contains the request message.
—Other methods: The entity describes the result of the action.
• Redirection: Further action is required to complete the request.
• Client Error: The request contains a syntax error or the request cannot be
fulfilled.
• Server Error: The server failed to fulfill an apparently valid request.
Response Header Fields Response header fields provide additional informa-
tion related to the response that cannot be placed in the Status-Line. The following
fields are defined in HTTP/1.1:
• Location: Defines the exact location of the resource identified by the Request-
URL.
• Proxy-Authenticate: Included with a response that has a status code of Proxy
Authentication Required. This field contains a “challenge” that indicates the
authentication scheme and parameters required.
• Public: Lists the nonstandard methods supported by this server.
• Retry-After: Included with a response that has a status code of Service
Unavailable, and indicates how long the service is expected to be unavailable.
• Server: Identifies the software product used by the origin server to handle the
request.
• WWW-Authenticate: Included with a response that has a status code of
Unauthorized. This field contains a “challenge” that indicates the authentica-
tion scheme and parameters required.
Entities
An entity consists of an entity header and an entity body in a request or response
message. An entity may represent a data resource, or it may constitute other infor-
mation supplied with a request or response.
Entity Header Fields Entity header fields provide optional information about
the entity body or, if no body is present, about the resource identified by the
request. The following fields are defined in HTTP/1.1:
• Allow: Lists methods supported by the resource identified in the Request-
URL. This field must be included with a response that has a status code of
Method Not Allowed and may be included in other responses.
• Content-Encoding: Indicates what content encodings have been applied to the
resource. The only encoding currently defined is zip compression.
• Content-Language: Identifies the natural language(s) of the intended audi-
ence of the enclosed entity.
23.3 /RECOMMENDED READING AND WEB SITES
795
•
Content-Length: The size of the entity body in octets.
•
Content-MD5: For future study. MD5 refers to the MD5 hash code function,
described in Chapter 21.
•
Content-Range: For future study. The intent is that this will indicate a portion
of the identified resource that is included in this response.
•
Content-Type: Indicates the media type of the entity body.
•
Content-Version: A version tag associated with an evolving entity.
•
Derived-From: Indicates the version tag of the resource from which this entity was
derived before modifications were made by the sender.This field and the Content-
Version field can be used to manage multiple updates by a group of users.
•
Expires: Date/time after which the entity should be considered stale.
•
Last-Modified: Date/time that the sender believes the resource was last
modified.
•
Link: Defines links to other resources.
•
Title: A textual title for the entity.
•
Transfer-Encoding: Indicates what type of transformation has been applied to
the message body to transfer it safely between the sender and the recipient.
The only encoding defined in the standard is chunked. The chunked option
defines a procedure for breaking an entity body into labeled chunks that are
transmitted separately.
•
URL-Header: Informs the recipient of other URLs by which the resource can
be identified.
•
Extension-Header: Allows additional fields to be defined without changing the
protocol, but these fields cannot be assumed to be recognizable by the recipient.
Entity Body An entity body consists of an arbitrary sequence of octets. HTTP is
designed to be able to transfer any type of content, including text, binary data,
audio, images, and video. When an entity body is present in a message, the interpre-
tation of the octets in the body is determined by the entity header fields Content-
Encoding, Content-Type, and Transfer-Encoding. These define a three-layer, ordered
encoding model:
entity-body : = Transfer-Encoding
1Content-Encoding1Content-Type1data222
The data are the content of a resource identified by a URL. The Content-Type
field determines the way in which the data are interpreted. A Content-Encoding may
be applied to the data and stored at the URL instead of the data. Finally, on transfer,
a Transfer-Encoding may be applied to form the entity body of the message.
23.3 RECOMMENDED READING AND WEB SITES
[MOGU02] discusses the design strengths and weaknesses of HTTP. [GOUR02] provides
comprehensive coverage of HTTP. Another good treatment is [KRIS01]. [MOCK88] is an
overview of DNS.
796
CHAPTER 23 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS
GOUR02
Gourley, D., et al. HTTP: The Definitive Guide. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly, 2002.
KRIS01
Krishnamurthy, B., and Rexford, J. Web Protocols and Practice: HTTP/1.1. Net-
working Protocols, Caching, and Traffic Measurement. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice Hall, 2001.
MOCK88
Mockapetris, P., and Dunlap, K. “Development of the Domain Name System.”
ACM Computer Communications Review, August 1988.
MOGU02
Mogul, J. “Clarifying the Fundamentals of HTTP.” Proceedings of the
Eleventh International Conference on World Wide Web, 2002.
Recommended Web Sites:
• WWW Consortium: Contains up-to-date information on HTTP and related topics.
• DNS Extensions Working Group: Chartered by IETF to develop standards related
to DNS. The Web site includes all relevant RFCs and Internet drafts.
23.4 KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
Key Terms
Backus-Naur Form (BNF)
HTTP tunnel
Resolver
domain
Hypertext Transfer Protocol
resource record (RR)
domain name
(HTTP)
root name server
Domain Name Service (DNS)
iterative technique
Uniform Resource Locator
HTTP gateway
name server
(URL)
HTTP method
origin server
zone
HTTP proxy
recursive technique
Review Questions
23.1
What is DNS?
23.2
What is the difference between a name server and a resolver in DNS?
23.3
What is a DNS resource record?
23.4
Give a brief description of DNS operation.
23.5
What is the difference between a domain and a zone?
23.6
Explain the difference between the recursive technique and the iterative technique in
DNS.
23.7
What is meant by saying that HTTP is a stateless protocol?
23.8
Explain the differences among HTTP proxy, gateway, and tunnel.
23.9
What is the function of the cache in HTTP?
23.4 /KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
797
Problems
Note: For some of the problems in this chapter, you will need to consult the relevant
RFCs.
23.1
Classify a DNS resolver and a DNS name server as either client, server, or both.
23.2
A DNS resolver typically issues a query using UDP but may also use TCP. Is there a
problem using TCP for this purpose? If so, what do you suggest is the solution?
Hint: Consider the TCP and UDP headers.
23.3
What’s the main difference between a primary and a secondary name server?
23.4
Name servers can be accessed on UDP port 53 as well as on TCP port 53. When is
each protocol used, and why?
23.5
We query an authoritative name server for the ‘example.com’ zone, in order to get the
IP address of www.example.com , the Web site of a large company. We get eight A
records in response to our query. We repeat this query several times, and note that we
continue getting the same eight A records, but in a different order each time. Suggest
a reason why.
23.6
The dig tool provides easy interactive access to the DNS. The dig tool is available for
UNIX and Windows operating systems. It can also be used from the Web. Here are
three sites that, at the time of this writing, provided free access to dig:
Use the dig tool to get the list of root servers.
23.7
Discuss the advantages of using several stub resolvers along with a caching-only name
server, instead of several full resolvers.
23.8
Choose a root server, and use the dig tool to send it a query for the IP address
of www.example.com , with the RD (Recursion Desired) bit set. Does it support recur-
sive lookups? Why or why not?
23.9
Type dig www.example.com A in order to get the IP address of www.example.com.
What’s the TTL of the A record returned in the response? Wait a while, and repeat the
query. Why has the TTL changed?
23.10
With the widespread use of x-DSL and cable-modem technologies, many home users
now host Web sites on their own desktop computers. As their IP addresses are dynam-
ically assigned by their Internet Service Providers (ISPs), users must update their
DNS records every time their IP addresses change (it’s usually done by some com-
puter software on the user machine that automatically contacts the name server to
update the corresponding data whenever the assigned IP address changes). This ser-
vice is usually called Dynamic DNS. However, in order for these updates to work as
expected, there’s one field of each resource record that must be set to a quite differ-
ent value from the typical ones. Which one, and why?
23.11
Secondary name servers periodically query the primary to check whether the zone
data has been updated. Regardless of how many resource records the zone data con-
tains, the secondary name servers need to query the primary only one resource record
to detect any changes on the zone data. Which resource record will they query? How
will they use the requested information to detect changes?
23.12
A user on the host 170.210.17.145 is ‘using a Web browser to visit www.example.com.
sent to an authoritative name server for the ‘example.com’ domain. In response, the
name server returns a list of four IP addresses, in the following order
5192.168.0.1, 128.0.0.1, 200.47.57.1, 170.210.10.1306. Even though it is the last IP
address in the list returned by the name server, the Web browser creates a connection
to 170.210.17.130. Why?
798
CHAPTER 23 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS
23.13
Before the deployment of the Domain Name System, a simple text file (HOSTS.TXT)
centrally maintained at the SRI Network Information Center was used to enable map-
ping between host names and addresses. Each host connected to the Internet had to
have an updated local copy of it to be able to use host names instead of having to cope
directly with their IP addresses. Discuss the main advantages of the DNS over the old
centralized HOSTS.TXT system.
23.14
Prior to persistent connections, one separate TCP connection was used to fetch each
URL. Analyze the advantages of persistent connections over the old HTTP paradigm
of one connection per data transfer.
CHAPTER24
INTERNET APPLICATIONS—
MULTIMEDIA
24.1
Audio and Video Compression
24.2
Real-Time Traffic
24.3
Voice Over IP and Multimedia Support—SIP
24.4
Real-Time Transport Protocol (RTP)
24.5
Recommended Reading and Web Sites
24.6
Key Terms, Review Questions, and Problems
799
800
CHAPTER 24 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS—MULTIMEDIA
Prior to the recent explosion of sophisticated research, scientists believed that birds
required no special awareness or intelligence to perform their migrations and their
navigational and homing feats. Accumulated research shows that in addition to
performing the difficult tasks of correcting for displacement (by storms, winds,
mountains, and other hindrances), birds integrate an astonishing variety of celestial,
atmospheric, and geological information to travel between their winter and summer
homes. In brief, avian navigation is characterized by the ability to gather a variety of
informational cues and to interpret and coordinate them so as to move closer
toward a goal.
—The Human Nature of Birds, Theodore Barber
KEY TOPICS
• The Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is an application-level control
protocol for setting up, modifying, and terminating real-time sessions
between participants over an IP data network.
• SIP uses the Session Description Protocol (SDP) to describe the
media content to be used during a session.
• The Real-Time Transport Protocol (RTP) is a transport-level alterna-
tive to TCP or UDP for supporting real-time traffic.
With the increasing availability of broadband access to the Internet has come an
increased interest in Web-based and Internet-based multimedia applications. The
term multimedia refers to the use of multiple forms of information, including text,
still images, audio, and video. The reader may find it useful to review Section 2.6
before proceeding.
An in-depth discussion of multimedia applications is well beyond the scope
of this book. In this chapter, we focus on a few key topics. First, we look at audio
and video compression, which is quite common in multimedia applications. Then
we examine some of the key characteristics of real-time traffic. Next we look at
SIP and its use to support voice over IP. Finally, we examine the real-time trans-
port protocol.
24.1 AUDIO AND VIDEO COMPRESSION
In Chapter 3, we looked at some of the fundamental characteristics of both audio
and video transmission. Then Chapter 5 introduced techniques such as pulse code
modulation (PCM) for digitizing audio and video data for digital transmission. For
24.1 / AUDIO AND VIDEO COMPRESSION
801
multimedia applications, it is important to make the most efficient use of transmis-
sion capacity as possible. Accordingly, much attention has been paid to the develop-
ment of compression algorithms for both audio and video transmissions. This
section provides an overview.
The techniques discussed in this section were standardized by the Moving Pic-
ture Experts Group (MPEG). MPEG, under the auspices of the International Orga-
nization for Standardization
(ISO), has developed standards for video and
associated audio in digital form, where the digital form may be stored on a variety of
devices, such as CD-ROM, tapes, and writable optical disks, and transmitted on
communications channels such as ISDN and LANs. The MPEG effort covers not
only video compression, but also audio compression and associated system issues
and formats. The premise of the MPEG effort is that a video signal can be com-
pressed to a bit rate of about 1.5 Mbps with acceptable quality and that correspond-
ing efficiencies are achievable for audio transmission.
Before proceeding, we introduce two terms. Data compression falls into two
broad categories: lossless and lossy. With lossless compression, no information is lost
and the decompressed data are identical to the original uncompressed data. The
efficiency of lossless compression is limited to the entropy, or redundancy, of the
data source. In other words, compression is limited to the process of eliminating
some or all of the redundancy in a bit stream, so that no information is lost. With
lossy compression, the decompressed data may be an acceptable approximation
(according to some fidelity criterion) to the original uncompressed data. For
example, for image or video compression, the criterion may be that the
decompressed image is indistinguishable from the original to the human eye. In
what follows, we will see that lossy compression is used for both audio and video.
However, in the case of audio, the fidelity of the output is so high that, for all
practical purposes, the compression is lossless.
Audio Compression
The first step in the development of an audio compression algorithm is to digitize the
audio signal, using a technique such as PCM. It is important to note that PCM or a
similar technique does in fact provide a measure of compression. Recall from
Chapter 5 that the sampling theorem states that if a signal f(t) is sampled at regular
intervals of time and at a rate higher than twice the highest signal frequency, then the
samples contain all the information of the original signal. The function f(t) may be
reconstructed from these samples by the use of a lowpass filter. For this technique to
reproduce the original signal, the samples must have analog values that have infinite
precision; this is known as pulse amplitude modulation (PAM). To create a digital sig-
nal, each sample is quantized to a value that can be represented by a fixed number of
bits, producing pulse code modulation (PCM). A PCM-encoded signal produces only
an approximation of the original signal. If unlimited fidelity were required, then an
unlimited number of bits would be needed for each sample. The fact that a fixed,
finite number of bits is used per sample results, in effect, in compression.
Taking a simple-minded approach, further compression could be achieved by
reducing the frequency of sampling or reducing the number of bits per sample.
However, there is another approach that can produce significant compression and
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CHAPTER 24 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS—MULTIMEDIA
at the same time retain a fidelity that is equivalent to lossless compression. Such an
approach is taken in the MPEG standard.
The MPEG standard for audio compression is quite complex and beyond our
scope. In fact, the standard provides for three layers of compression. Layer 3, popu-
larly known as MP3, provides a compression ratio of 10 : 1. In what follows, we look
at the basic approach used in all of the MPEG audio compression algorithms.
Effective audio compression takes into account the physiology of human hear-
ing. The compression algorithm exploits a phenomenon known as simultaneous
auditory masking. This masking is an effect produced by the way the human nervous
system perceives sound. In essence, if two signals are sufficiently near to one
another and one tone is stronger, the weaker signal is simply not perceived at all;
the human hearing apparatus masks it. Thus, what the percipient hears is exactly the
same whether the weaker tone is there or not.
Figure 24.1a shows, in general terms, how masking is used to encode audio
signals. The input is partitioned into time frames ranging in duration from 2 to
50 ms. A time-frequency analysis module decomposes each frame. At its simplest,
this module determines the amplitude in each of a sequence of narrow frequency
subbands; more complex analysis algorithms are typical. In any case, the output of
this module is a set of parameters that define the acoustic signal in that particular
time frame and that can be quantized. In parallel, a psychoacoustic module ana-
lyzes the time frame for masking effects and other properties that can be
exploited to achieve compression. Based on this analysis, a bit allocation module
decides how to apportion the total number of code bits available for the quantiza-
tion of the subband signals. The resulting quantized signal is then fed into a loss-
less coding module that eliminates any redundancies in the digital signal to
achieve maximum compression.
Figure 24.1b shows the inverse operation performed at a destination system to
reproduce the original audio signal. The unpacking module recovers the quantized
signal by inverting the lossless compression. The resulting signal is then processed to
produce the audio output.
Audio
input
Quantization
Time/frequency
Parameters
and
analysis
encoding
Entropy
(lossless)
Masking
Output
coding
Psychoacoustic
thresholds
Bit
analysis
allocation
(a) MPEG audio encoder
Input
Frequency
Bit-stream
Frequency-to-time
sample
unpacking
mapping
Decoded
reconstruction
PCM audio
(b) MPEG audio decoder
Figure 24.1
MPEG Audio Compression and Decompression
24.1 / AUDIO AND VIDEO COMPRESSION
803
Intraframe mode
Bit
DCT
Q
VLC
stream
Video
in
Interframe
Q1
mode
DCT1
ME
FM
DCT: Discrete cosine transform
Q: quantizer
VLC: variable-length coder
FM: frame memory
ME: motion estimator
Figure 24.2
MPEG Block Diagram
Video Compression
A moving picture is simply a succession of still pictures. Accordingly, one can
achieve a degree of compression by independently compressing each still picture
in the sequence that makes up the moving picture. But much more can be done.
Even in a moving picture with a lot of action, the differences between adjacent
still pictures are generally small compared to the amount of information in a sin-
gle still picture. This suggests that an encoding of the differences between adja-
cent still pictures is a fruitful approach to compression; this is a tool used in
MPEG.
Overview of the Video Compression Algorithm Figure 24.2 illustrates
the MPEG video compression scheme. The input to the MPEG compression mod-
ule is a sequence of video frames. Each frame is processed separately, being treated
as a single still image. While operating on a single frame, the MPEG coder is in
intraframe mode. In this mode, the algorithm performs the following steps:
1. Preliminary scaling and color conversion. Each frame is converted into a stan-
dardized representation known as Source Input Format (SIF), and color infor-
mation is translated into a scheme known as YUV.
2. Color subsampling. Brightness is the dominant component of color seen by the
human eye, while hue is less important. Accordingly, the algorithm is able to
reduce the hue information by about 75% with little effect on subjective fidelity.
3. Discrete cosine transformation (DCT). This process maps each
block of
8 * 8
points (pixels) into a set of numbers similar to a Fourier transform of the block.
In essence, the DCT provides a frequency domain representation of the image.
804
CHAPTER 24 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS—MULTIMEDIA
This transformation does not result in any compression but provides suitable
input for later stages.
4. Quantization. The DCT values are quantized into a finite number of possible
values (similar to pulse-code modulation quantization). The more quantization
levels that are used, the greater the picture fidelity, but the less the amount of
compression.
5. Run-length encoding. The quantized DCT values are represented using a run-
length encoding technique.
6. Huffman coding. The data stream from the preceding step is compressed using
Huffman coding, a lossless compression technique that assigns the most
common bit sequences from the preceding step to symbols that are as short as
possible.
Although significant compression can be achieved by simply processing a
video signal as a sequence of still images, as just described, this approach fails to
exploit the considerable redundancy present in all video sequences. Typically, many
of the pixels will change very little or not at all from one frame to the next, or the
change simply involves the movement of a pattern of pixels from one location on a
frame to a nearby location on the next frame. The MPEG studies indicate an addi-
tional compression on the order of a factor of 3 [GALL91] by exploiting these
redundancies in an interframe mode.
For interframe mode, similar blocks of pixels common to two or more succes-
sive frames are replaced by a pointer that references one of the blocks. The major
complication has to do with the order of the frames. Sometimes it is convenient to
refer to a block in a preceding frame. At other times it is convenient to refer to a
block in a future frame. In this latter case, the encoder replaces the block with a
pointer and also reverses the order of the frame. The decompression routine must
put the frames back in proper order prior to display.
Figure 24.3 shows the interframe technique in a very general way. After the
DCT and quantization phases in the processing of a frame, the frame goes through
the reverse process (dequantization, inverse DCT) in order to recover a frame that
is identical to that which will be recovered by the decompression algorithm. This
frame is then stored and used in the interframe mode to compare to succeeding
frames.
In designing the video compression algorithm, the MPEG study group identi-
fied a number of features that are important in order to meet the range of applica-
tions of MPEG. Two of these are relevant to our discussion:
• Random access: A compressed video bit stream should be accessible at any
point in the sequence of video frames, and any frame should be decodable in a
limited amount of time. This implies the existence of access frames, which are
frames coded only in intraframe mode and that therefore can be decoded
without reference to other frames.
• Fast forward/reverse searches: It should be possible to scan a compressed bit
stream and, using the appropriate access frames, display selected frames to
obtain a fast forward or fast reverse effect. This feature is essentially a more
demanding form of the random access feature.
24.1 / AUDIO AND VIDEO COMPRESSION
805
Previous decompressed frame
(24, 4)
Current frame
(16, 8)
Future decompressed frame
(8, 24)
16
16
block
Figure 24.3
Block Motion Compensation
Motion Compensation The foundation of MPEG interframe compression is
motion compensation. The idea behind motion compensation is that a portion of an
image in one frame will be the same as or very similar to an equal-sized portion in a
nearby frame. The MPEG scheme makes use of two forms of motion compensation:
prediction and interpolation.
Prediction MPEG makes use of blocks of
pixels, called macroblocks (in
16 * 16
contrast to the smaller
blocks used in the DCT coding), for purposes of
8 * 8
motion compensation. A frame processed in prediction mode is divided into its mac-
roblocks, each of which is encoded separately. The encoding is done with reference
to an anchor frame that precedes the current frame.
Each macroblock in the current frame is to be represented by a pointer, called
the motion vector, to that macroblock in the anchor frame that most closely
matches this macroblock. The motion vector gives the displacement of the mac-
roblock in the current frame with respect to its match in the anchor frame. This is
shown in the left two-thirds of Figure 24.3. In this example, each video frame consist
of
pixels grouped into 16 macroblocks. The shaded portion of the current
64 * 64
frame is the macroblock whose upper left-hand pixel is in the x-y position (16, 8).
The match for this block in the previous frame is in position (24, 4). The short
arrowed line in the left-hand frame represents the motion vector, which in this case
is
18, - 42.
Key aspects of predictive coding:
1. The matching macroblock in the previous frame need not be on a 16-pixel
boundary.
2. Matching is not done against a previous source video frame but rather against
a video frame that has been through compression and decompression because
the decompression module does not have access to the source video frames
but only to decompressed versions of the original frames.
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CHAPTER 24 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS—MULTIMEDIA
Having determined the matching block from the preceding frame, the MPEG
algorithm records the motion vector and the prediction error, which is
16 * 16
matrix of differences between the current macroblock, in frame c, and the reference
macroblock, in frame r:
Ec1x, y2 = Ic1x, y2 - Ir[1x, y2 + Mrc]
where
is the prediction error,
is the value of the pixel located
Ii
E
1x, y2
c1x, y2
at position (x, y) in frame i, and
is the motion vector for frame j relative to
Mij
frame i.
Thus, the current frame is mapped into a matrix of prediction error values, one
for each pixel position, and of motion vector values, one for each macroblock. The
prediction error matrix will have many zero values. This matrix is encoded using the
DCT-quantization technique and should yield a higher compression ratio than sim-
ply encoding the original pixel matrix.
The MPEG standard does not dictate how the matching process is to be done.
Typically, the motion vector for a macroblock is obtained by minimizing a cost func-
tion that measures the difference between a macroblock and each predictor candi-
date. The calculation can be expressed as
MINc
a C[Ic1x,y2-Ir11x,y2+m2]d
mHM
1x,y2HBi
where
= a macroblock in the current frame
Ic
Bi
m = the displacement vector with respect to the reference frame
Ir
M = the search range in the reference frame
C = cost function
The value of m that minimizes the preceding expression is used as the motion
vector
for this block. The search range could encompass only small displace-
Mrc
ments or could range up to the entire frame size.
Interpolation Although prediction results in higher compression ratios than a
simple frame-by-frame compression, more can be done. In particular, MPEG allows
some video frames to be encoded using two reference frames, one in the past and
one in the future. This approach, called bidirectional interpolation, results in higher
compression ratios than prediction based on one reference frame.
To see why bidirectional interpolation can improve results, consider a scene
that is moving with respect to the picture frame at a rate of one half pixel per frame.
If we attempt to predict a macroblock in the current frame based on the immedi-
ately preceding frame, no exact matching block will be found. Similarly, no exact
match to the macroblock will be found in the immediately following frame. How-
ever, an average of the best match from the preceding and following frames pro-
vides an exact prediction, so that the error matrix is all zeroes.
Figure 24.3 illustrates the technique used in bidirectional interpolation. The
current frame, referred to as a B frame, is processed against two reference frames,
one before and one after this frame in time. Each macroblock can be encoded using
a block from the preceding frame (forward prediction), the following frame
24.1 / AUDIO AND VIDEO COMPRESSION
807
Table 24.1
Prediction Modes for Macroblock in B Picture
Mode
Predictor
N
N
Forward predicted
I11z2 = I01z + M012
N
N
Backward predicted
I11z2 = I21z + M212
NI
N
2
01z + M012 + I21z + M21
Average
N11z2 =
2
Note: z = the vector (x, y).
(backward prediction), or one block from each reference frame (averaging),
whichever gives the minimum error matrix. Table 24.1 summarizes the calculations
for each option, with frame 1 being the current frame, frame 0 the preceding refer-
ence frame, and frame 2 the following reference frame.
In the case of bidirectional interpolation, more information must be encoded.
As with predicted frames, a matrix of differences is produced and then encoded
using DCT. In addition, each macroblock is encoded with an indication of the pre-
diction mode (forward, backward, average) and one or two motion vectors.
Frame Ordering Three types of frames are defined in MPEG:
• Intraframe (I): Encoded in JPEG style as an independent still image
• Predicted (P): Encoded with reference to the preceding anchor frame
• Bidirectional interpolated (B): Encoded with reference to the preceding and
the following anchor frames
The relative frequency of these types of frames within a video stream is a con-
figurable parameter and must satisfy several tradeoffs. First, there is the need to
satisfy the requirements for random access and fast forward/reverse searches,
described earlier. These requirements place a lower bound on the fraction of I
frames in the encoded stream. Second, there is a tradeoff between computational
complexity and the number of B frames: More B frames means more computation.
Finally, B frames can only be processed with respect to I and P frames; that is, one
B frame cannot serve as a reference frame for another B frame. Therefore, the
higher the fraction of B frames, the greater the average distance between a B frame
and its references and the less the correlation between the B frame and its refer-
ence frames.
The rules for encoding are as follows. Each I frame is encoded using
intraframe coding only. Each P frame is encoded based on the most recent preced-
ing I or P frame, whichever is closest. Each B frame is encoded with the closest pre-
ceding and following I or P frames.
Picture frames in MPEG are organized into groups. Each group consists of a
single I frame followed by a number of P frames and B frames. Because a B frame
cannot be decoded until both its preceding and following reference frames are
decoded, the members of a group are reorganized so that each B frame follows both
of its reference frames. Figure 24.4 provides an example. The first six frames form a
group. Frame 4 is stored after frame 1, because it is used as the forward prediction
808
CHAPTER 24 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS—MULTIMEDIA
Forward prediction
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Time
I
B
B
P
B
P
B
I
Bidirectional prediction
Transmission order
1 4 2 3 6 5
8 7 ...
I P B B P B
I B ...
Group of pictures
Figure 24.4
Example of Temporal Picture Structure
frame for B frames 2 and 3. Frames 5 and 6 are interchanged for the same reason. B
frame 7 is recorded as part of the next group because it is encoded after I frame 8.
24.2 REAL-TIME TRAFFIC
The widespread deployment of high-speed LANs and WANs and the increase in the
line capacity on the Internet and other internets has opened up the possibility of
using IP-based networks for the transport of real-time traffic. However, it is impor-
tant to recognize that the requirements of real-time traffic differ from those of high-
speed but non-real-time traffic.
With traditional internet applications, such as file transfer, electronic mail, and
client/server applications including the Web, the performance metrics of interest are
generally throughput and delay. There is also a concern with reliability, and mecha-
nisms are used to make sure that no data are lost, corrupted, or misordered during
transit. By contrast, real-time applications are more concerned with timing issues. In
most cases, there is a requirement that data be delivered at a constant rate equal to
the sending rate. In other cases, a deadline is associated with each block of data, such
that the data are not usable after the deadline has expired.
24.2 / REAL-TIME TRAFFIC
809
Constant flow of packets
(160 data octets every 20 ms)
Source:
multimedia server
Internet
Packets arrive unevenly spaced
Time delay
buffer
Packets delivered with original spacing
(some may be missing)
Destination
multimedia PC
Figure 24.5
Real-Time Traffic
Real-Time Traffic Characteristics
Figure 24.5 illustrates a typical real-time environment. Here, a server is generating
audio to be transmitted at 64 kbps. The digitized audio is transmitted in packets con-
taining 160 octets of data, so that one packet is issued every 20 ms. These packets are
passed through an internet and delivered to a multimedia PC, which plays the audio
in real time as it arrives. However, because of the variable delay imposed by the
Internet, the interarrival times between packets are not maintained at a fixed 20 ms
at the destination. To compensate for this, the incoming packets are buffered,
delayed slightly, and then released at a constant rate to the software that generates
the audio.
The compensation provided by the delay buffer is limited. To understand this,
we need to define the concept of delay jitter, which is the maximum variation in
810
CHAPTER 24 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS—MULTIMEDIA
T
T
T
t
t
t
(a) Continuous data source
(b) Voice source
(c) Compressed video source
with silent intervals
Figure 24.6
Real-Time Packet Transmission (based on [ARAS94])
delay experienced by packets in a single session. For example, if the minimum end-
to-end delay seen by any packet is 1 ms and the maximum is 6 ms, then the delay jit-
ter is 5 ms. As long as the time delay buffer delays incoming packets by at least 5 ms,
then the output of the buffer will include all incoming packets. However, if the
buffer delayed packets only by 4 ms, then any incoming packets that had experi-
enced a relative delay of more than 4 ms (an absolute delay of more than 5 ms)
would have to be discarded so as not to be played back out of order.
The description of real-time traffic so far implies a series of equal-size packets
generated at a constant rate. This is not always the profile of the traffic. Figure 24.6
illustrates some of the common possibilities:
• Continuous data source: Fixed-size packets are generated at fixed intervals.
This characterizes applications that are constantly generating data, have few
redundancies, and that are too important to compress in a lossy way. Examples
are air traffic control radar and real-time simulations.
• On/off source: The source alternates between periods when fixed-size packets
are generated at fixed intervals and periods of inactivity. A voice source, such
as in telephony or audio conferencing, fits this profile.
• Variable packet size: The source generates variable-length packets at uniform
intervals. An example is digitized video in which different frames may experi-
ence different compression ratios for the same output quality level.
Requirements for Real-Time Communication
[ARAS94] lists the following as desirable properties for real-time communication:
• Low jitter
• Low latency
• Ability to easily integrate non-real-time and real-time services
• Adaptable to dynamically changing network and traffic conditions
• Good performance for large networks and large numbers of connections
• Modest buffer requirements within the network
• High effective capacity utilization
• Low overhead in header bits per packet
• Low processing overhead per packet within the network and at the end system
24.3 / VOICE OVER IP AND MULTIMEDIA SUPPORT—SIP
811
These requirements are difficult to meet in a wide area IP-based network or inter-
net. Neither TCP nor UDP by itself is appropriate. We will see that RTP provides a
reasonable foundation for addressing these issues.
Hard versus Soft Real-Time Applications
A distinction needs to be made between hard and soft real-time communication
applications. Soft real-time applications can tolerate the loss of some portion of the
communicated data, while hard real-time applications have zero loss tolerance. In
general, soft real-time applications impose fewer requirements on the network, and it
is therefore permissible to focus on maximizing network utilization, even at the cost
of some lost or misordered packets. In hard real-time applications, a deterministic
upper bound on jitter and high reliability take precedence over network utilization
considerations.
24.3
VOICE OVER IP AND MULTIMEDIA SUPPORT—SIP
The Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), defined in RFC 3261, is an application-
level control protocol for setting up, modifying, and terminating real-time ses-
sions between participants over an IP data network. The key driving force
behind SIP is to enable Internet telephony, also referred to as voice over IP
(VoIP). SIP can support any type of single media or multimedia session, including
teleconferencing.
SIP supports five facets of establishing and terminating multimedia communi-
cations:
• User location: Users can move to other locations and access their telephony or
other application features from remote locations.
• User availability: Determination of the willingness of the called party to
engage in communications.
• User capabilities: Determination of the media and media parameters to be used.
• Session setup: Setup up point-to-point and multiparty calls, with agreed ses-
sion parameters.
• Session management: Including transfer and termination of sessions, modify-
ing session parameters, and invoking services.
SIP employs design elements developed for earlier protocols. SIP is based
on an HTTP-like request/response transaction model. Each transaction consists
of a client request that invokes a particular method, or function, on the server
and at least one response. SIP uses most of the header fields, encoding rules, and
status codes of HTTP. This provides a readable text-based format for displaying
information. SIP also uses concepts similar to the recursive and iterative
searches of DNS. SIP incorporates the use of a Session Description Protocol
(SDP), which defines session content using a set of types similar to those used in
MIME.
812
CHAPTER 24 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS—MULTIMEDIA
SIP Components and Protocols
An SIP network can be viewed of consisting of components defined on two dimen-
sions: client/server and individual network elements. RFC 3261 defines client and
server as follows:
•
Client: A client is any network element that sends SIP requests and receives
SIP responses. Clients may or may not interact directly with a human user.
User agent clients and proxies are clients.
•
Server: A server is a network element that receives requests in order to service
them and sends back responses to those requests. Examples of servers are
proxies, user agent servers, redirect servers, and registrars.
The individual elements of a standard SIP network are as follows:
•
User Agent: Resides in every SIP end station. It acts in two roles:
—User agent client (UAC): Issues SIP requests
—User agent server (UAS): Receives SIP requests and generates a response
that accepts, rejects, or redirects the request
•
Redirect Server: Used during session initiation to determine the address of the
called device. The redirect server returns this information to the calling device,
directing the UAC to contact an alternate URI. This is analogous to iterative
searches in DNS.
•
Proxy Server: An intermediary entity that acts as both a server and a client for
the purpose of making requests on behalf of other clients. A proxy server pri-
marily plays the role of routing, which means its job is to ensure that a request
is sent to another entity closer to the targeted user. Proxies are also useful for
enforcing policy (for example, making sure a user is allowed to make a call). A
proxy interprets, and, if necessary, rewrites specific parts of a request message
before forwarding it. This is analogous to recursive searches in DNS.
•
Registrar: A server that accepts REGISTER requests and places the informa-
tion it receives (the SIP address and associated IP address of the registering
device) in those requests into the location service for the domain it handles.
•
Location Service: A location service is used by a SIP redirect or proxy server
to obtain information about a callee’s possible location(s). For this purpose,
the location service maintains a database of SIP-address/IP-address mappings.
The various servers are defined in RFC 3261 as logical devices. They may be
implemented as separate servers configured on the Internet or they may be com-
bined into a single application that resides in a physical server.
Figure 24.7 shows how some of the SIP components relate to one another and
the protocols that are employed. A user agent acting as a client (in this case UAC
alice) uses SIP to set up a session with a user agent that will act as a server (in this
case UAS bob). The session initiation dialogue uses SIP and involves one or more
proxy servers to forward requests and responses between the two user agents. The
user agents also make use of the Session Description Protocol (SDP), which is used
to describe the media session.
24.3 / VOICE OVER IP AND MULTIMEDIA SUPPORT—SIP
813
Location
service
DNS
server
DNS
Internet
Proxy
SIP (SDP)
server
Proxy
server
SIP
LAN
Wireless
(SDP)
SIP
network
(SDP)
Media (RTP)
User agent Alice
User agent Bob
Figure 24.7
SIP Components and Protocols
The proxy servers may also act as redirect servers as needed. If redirection is
done, a proxy server will need to consult the location service database, which may be
collocated with a proxy server or not. The communication between the proxy server
and the location service is beyond the scope of the SIP standard. DNS is also an
important part of SIP operation. Typically, a UAC will make a request using the
domain name of the UAS, rather than an IP address. A proxy server will need to
consult a DNS server to find a proxy server for the target domain.
SIP typically runs on top of UDP for performance reasons, and provides its
own reliability mechanisms, but may also use TCP. If a secure, encrypted transport
mechanism is desired, SIP messages may alternatively be carried over the Transport
Layer Security (TLS) protocol, described in Chapter 21.
Associated with SIP is the Session Description Protocol (SDP), defined in
RFC 2327. SIP is used to invite one or more participants to a session, while the SDP-
encoded body of the SIP message contains information about what media encod-
ings (e.g., voice, video) the parties can and will use. Once this information is
exchanged and acknowledged, all participants are aware of the participants’ IP
addresses, available transmission capacity, and media type. Then data transmission
begins, using an appropriate transport protocol. Typically, the Real-Time Transport
814
CHAPTER 24 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS—MULTIMEDIA
Protocol
(RTP), described subsequently, is used. Throughout the session,
participants can make changes to session parameters, such as new media types or
new parties to the session, using SIP messages.
SIP Uniform Resource Identifier
A resource within a SIP network is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier
(URI). Examples of communications resources include the following:
• A user of an online service
• An appearance on a multiline phone
• A mailbox on a messaging system
• A telephone number at a gateway service
• A group (such as “sales” or “helpdesk”) in an organization
SIP URIs have a format based on email address formats, namely user@domain.
There are two common schemes. An ordinary SIP URI is of the form
sip:bob@biloxi.com
The URI may also include a password, port number, and related parameters. If
secure transmission is required, “sip:” is replaced by “sips:”. In the latter case, SIP
messages are transported over TLS.
Examples of Operation
The SIP specification is quite complex; the main document, RFC 3261, is 269 pages
long. To give some feel for its operation, we present a few examples.
Figure 24.8 shows an unsuccessful attempt by user Alice to establish a session
with user Bob, whose URI is bob@biloxi.com.1 Alice’s UAC is configured to communi-
cate with a proxy server (the outbound server) in its domain and begins by sending an
INVITE message to the proxy server that indicates its desire to invite Bob’s UAS into
a session (1); the server acknowledges the request (2). Although Bob’s UAS is identi-
fied by its URI, the outbound proxy server needs to take into account the possibility
that Bob is not currently available or that Bob has moved. Accordingly, the outbound
proxy server should forward the INVITE request to the proxy server that is responsi-
ble for the domain biloxi.com. The outbound proxy thus consults a local DNS server to
obtain the IP address of the biloxi.com proxy server (3), by asking for the SRV resource
record (Table 23.2) that contains information on the proxy server for biloxi.com.
The DNS server responds (4) with the IP address of the biloxi.com proxy server
(the inbound server). Alice’s proxy server can now forward the INVITE message to
the inbound proxy server (5), which acknowledges the message (6). The inbound
proxy server now consults a location server to determine the location of Bob (7),
and the location server responds that Bob is not signed in, and therefore not avail-
able for SIP messages (8). This information is communicated back to the outbound
proxy server (9, 10) and then to Alice (11, 12).
1Figures 24.8 through 24.11 are adapted from ones developed by Professor H. Charles Baker of Southern
Methodist University.
24.3 / VOICE OVER IP AND MULTIMEDIA SUPPORT—SIP
815
Location
service
DNS
server
Proxy
server
5. INVITE
(192.0.2.4)
To: sip:bob@biloxi.com
Proxy
6. 100 Trying
server
(15.16.17.18)
9. 480 temporarily
unavailable
10. ACK
User agent Alice
User agent Bob
(12.26.17.91)
(not signed in)
Figure 24.8
SIP Call Setup Attempt Scenario
The next example (Figure 24.9) makes use of two message types that are not yet
part of the SIP standard but that are documented in RFC 2848 and are likely to be
incorporated in a later revision of SIP. These message types support telephony applica-
tions. At the end of the preceding example, Alice was informed that Bob was not avail-
able.Alice’s UAC then issues a SUBSCRIBE message (1), indicating that it wants to be
informed when Bob is available. This request is forwarded through the two proxies in
our example to a PINT (PSTN-Internet Networking)2 server (2, 3). A PINT server acts
as a gateway between an IP network from which comes a request to place a telephone
call and a telephone network that executes the call by connecting to the destination
telephone. In this example, we assume that the PINT server logic is collocated with the
location service. It could also be the case that Bob is attached to the Internet rather
than a PSTN, in which case the equivalent of PINT logic is needed to handle SUB-
SCRIBE requests. In this example, we assume that latter and assume that the PINT
functionality is implemented in the location service. In any case, the location service
authorizes subscription by returning an OK message (4), which is passed back to Alice
(5, 6).The location service then immediately sends a NOTIFY message with Bob’s cur-
rent status of not signed in (7, 8, 9), which Alice’s UAC acknowledges (10, 11, 12).
2PSTN is the public switched telephone network.
816
CHAPTER 24 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS—MULTIMEDIA
Location service
PINT server
DNS
server
2. SUBSCRIBE
Proxy
To: sip:bob@biloxi.com
server
Proxy
5. 200 OK
server
8. NOTIFY
<Not Signed In>
11. 200 OK
User agent Alice
User agent Bob
(not signed in)
Figure 24.9
SIP Presence Example
Figure 24.10 continues the example of Figure 24.9. Bob signs on by sending a
REGISTER message to the proxy in its domain (1). The proxy updates the database
at the location service to reflect registration (2). The update is confirmed to the proxy
(3), which confirms the registration to Bob (4). The PINT functionality learns of Bob’s
new status from the location server (here we assume that they are collocated) and
sends a NOTIFY message containing the new status of Bob (5), which is forwarded to
Alice (6, 7). Alice’s UAC acknowledges receipt of the notification (8, 9, 10).
Now that Bob is registered, Alice can try again to establish a session, as shown
in Figure 24.11. This figure shows the same flow as Figure 24.8, with a few differ-
ences. We assume that Alice’s proxy server has cached the IP address of the proxy
server for domain biloxi.com, and therefore need not consult the DNS server. A ring-
ing response is sent from Bob back to Alice (8, 9, 10) while the UAS at Bob is alert-
ing the local media application (e.g., telephony). When the media application
accepts the call, Bob’s UAS sends back an OK response to Alice (11, 12, 13).
Finally, Alice’s UAC sends an acknowledgement message to Bob’s UAS to
confirm the reception of the final response (14). In this example, the ACK is sent
directly from Alice to Bob, bypassing the two proxies. This occurs because the end-
points have learned each other’s address from the INVITE/200 (OK) exchange,
which was not known when the initial INVITE was sent. The media session has now
begun, and Alice and Bob can exchange data over an RTP connection.
24.3 / VOICE OVER IP AND MULTIMEDIA SUPPORT—SIP
817
Location
service
DNS
server
Proxy
6. NOTIFY
server
<Signed In>
Proxy
server
9. 200 OK
User agent Alice
User agent Bob
(1.2.3.4)
Figure 24.10
SIP Registration and Notification Example
SIP Messages
As was mentioned, SIP is a text-based protocol with a syntax similar to that of
HTTP. There are two different types of SIP messages, requests and responses. The
format difference between the two types of messages is seen in the first line. The
first line of a request has a method, defining the nature of the request and a
Request-URI, indicating where the request should be sent. The first line of a
response has a response code. All messages include a header, consisting of a number
of lines, each line beginning with a header label. A message can also contain a body,
such as an SDP media description.
SIP Requests RFC 3261 defines the following methods:
• REGISTER: Used by a user agent to notify a SIP network of its current IP
address and the URLs for which it would like to receive calls
• INVITE: Used to establish a media session between user agents
• ACK: Confirms reliable message exchanges
• CANCEL: Terminates a pending request, but does not undo a completed call
• BYE: Terminates a session between two users in a conference
818
CHAPTER 24 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS—MULTIMEDIA
Location
service
DNS
server
3. INVITE
Proxy
To: sip:bob@biloxi.com
server
(192.0.2.4)
4. 100 Trying
Proxy
server
9. 180 Ringing
(15.16.17.18)
12. 200 OK
14. ACK
Media (RTP)
User agent Alice
User agent Bob
(12.26.17.91)
(1.2.3.4)
Figure 24.11
SIP Successful Call Setup
• OPTIONS: Solicits information about the capabilities of the callee, but does
not set up a call
For example, the header of message (1) in Figure 24.11 might look like this:
INVITE sip:bob@biloxi.com SIP/2.0
Via: SIP/2.0/UDP 12.26.17.91:5060
Max-Forwards: 70
To: Bob <sip:bob@biloxi.com>
From: Alice <sip:alice@atlanta.com>;tag=1928301774
Call-ID: a84b4c76e66710@12.26.17.91
CSeq: 314159 INVITE
Contact: <sip:alice@atlanta.com>
Content-Type: application/sdp
Content-Length: 142
The boldface type used for header labels is not typical but is used here for clar-
ity. The first line contains the method name (INVITE), a SIP URI, and the version
24.3 / VOICE OVER IP AND MULTIMEDIA SUPPORT—SIP
819
number of SIP that is used. The lines that follow are a list of header fields. This
example contains the minimum required set.
The Via headers show the path the request has taken in the SIP network (source
and intervening proxies) and are used to route responses back along the same path. In
message (1), there is only one Via header, inserted by Alice. The Via line contains the
IP address (12.26.17.91), port number (5060), and transport protocol (UDP) that Alice
wants Bob to use in his response. Subsequent proxies add additional Via headers.
Max-Forwards serves to limit the number of hops a request can make on the way
to its destination. It consists of an integer that is decremented by one by each proxy
that forwards the request. If the Max-Forwards value reaches 0 before the request
reaches its destination, it will be rejected with a 483 (Too Many Hops) error response.
To contains a display name (Bob) and a SIP or SIPS URI (sip:bob@biloxi.com)
toward which the request was originally directed. From also contains a display name
(Alice) and a SIP or SIPS URI (sip:alice@atlanta.com) that indicate the originator
of the request. This header field also has a tag parameter containing a random string
(1928301774) that was added to the URI by the UAC. It is used to identify the session.
Call-ID contains a globally unique identifier for this call, generated by the
combination of a random string and the host name or IP address. The combination
of the To tag, From tag, and Call-ID completely defines a peer-to-peer SIP relation-
ship between Alice and Bob and is referred to as a dialog.
CSeq or Command Sequence contains an integer and a method name. The
CSeq number is initialized at the start of a call (314159 in this example), incre-
mented for each new request within a dialog, and is a traditional sequence number.
The CSeq is used to distinguish a retransmission from a new request.
The Contact header contains a SIP URI for direct communication between
UAs. While the Via header field tells other elements where to send the response, the
Contact header field tells other elements where to send future requests for this dialog.
The Content-Type indicates the type of the message body. Content-Length
gives the length in octets of the message body.
SIP Responses The response types defined in RFC 3261 are in the following
categories:
• Provisional (1xx): Request received and being processed.
• Success (2xx): The action was successfully received, understood, and accepted.
• Redirection (3xx): Further action needs to be taken in order to complete the
request.
• Client Error (4xx): The request contains bad syntax or cannot be fulfilled at
this server.
• Server Error (5xx): The server failed to fulfill an apparently valid request.
• Global Failure (6xx): The request cannot be fulfilled at any server.
For example, the header of message (11) in Figure 24.11 might look like this:
SIP/2.0 200 OK
Via: SIP/2.0/UDP server10.biloxi.com
Via: SIP/2.0/UDP bigbox3.site3.atlanta.com
820
CHAPTER 24 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS—MULTIMEDIA
Via: SIP/2.0/UDP 12.26.17.91:5060
To: Bob <sip:bob@biloxi.com>;tag=a6c85cf
From: Alice <sip:alice@atlanta.com>;tag=1928301774
Call-ID: a84b4c76e66710@12.26.17.91
CSeq: 314159 INVITE
Contact: <sip:bob@biloxi.com>
Content-Type: application/sdp
Content-Length: 131
The first line contains the version number of SIP that is used and the response
code and name. The lines that follow are a list of header fields. The Via, To, From, Call-
ID, and CSeq header fields are copied from the INVITE request. (There are three Via
header field values—one added by Alice’s SIP UAC, one added by the atlanta.com
proxy, and one added by the biloxi.com proxy.) Bob’s SIP phone has added a tag para-
meter to the To header field. This tag will be incorporated by both endpoints into the
dialog and will be included in all future requests and responses in this call.
Session Description Protocol
The Session Description Protocol (SDP), defined in RFC 2327, describes the con-
tent of sessions, including telephony, Internet radio, and multimedia applications.
SDP includes information about the following [SCHU99]:
• Media streams: A session can include multiple streams of differing content.
SDP currently defines audio, video, data, control, and application as stream
types, similar to the MIME types used for Internet mail (Table 22.3).
• Addresses: Indicates the destination addresses, which may be a multicast
address, for a media stream.
• Ports: For each stream, the UDP port numbers for sending and receiving are
specified.
• Payload types: For each media stream type in use (e.g., telephony), the pay-
load type indicates the media formats that can be used during the session.
• Start and stop times: These apply to broadcast sessions, like a television or
radio program. The start, stop, and repeat times of the session are indicated.
• Originator: For broadcast sessions, the originator is specified, with contact
information. This may be useful if a receiver encounters technical difficulties.
24.4 REAL-TIME TRANSPORT PROTOCOL (RTP)
The most widely used transport-level protocol is TCP. Although TCP has proven
its value in supporting a wide range of distributed applications, it is not suited for
use with real-time distributed applications. By a real-time distributed applica-
tion, we mean one in which a source is generating a stream of data at a constant
rate, and one or more destinations must deliver that data to an application at the
same constant rate. Examples of such applications include audio and video
24.4 / REAL-TIME TRANSPORT PROTOCOL (RTP)
821
conferencing, live video distribution (not for storage but for immediate play),
shared workspaces, remote medical diagnosis, telephony, command and control
systems, distributed interactive simulations, games, and real-time monitoring. A
number of features of TCP disqualify it for use as the transport protocol for such
applications:
1. TCP is a point-to-point protocol that sets up a connection between two end-
points. Therefore, it is not suitable for multicast distribution.
2. TCP includes mechanisms for retransmission of lost segments, which then arrive
out of order. Such segments are not usable in most real-time applications.
3. TCP contains no convenient mechanism for associating timing information
with segments, which is another real-time requirement.
The other widely used transport protocol, UDP, does not exhibit the first two
characteristics listed but, like TCP, does not provide timing information. By itself,
UDP does not provide any general-purpose tools useful for real-time applications.
Although each real-time application could include its own mechanisms for
supporting real-time transport, there are a number of common features that warrant
the definition of a common protocol. A protocol designed for this purpose is the
Real-Time Transport Protocol (RTP), defined in RFC 1889. RTP is best suited to
soft real-time communication. It lacks the necessary mechanisms to support hard
real-time traffic.
This section provides an overview of RTP. We begin with a discussion of real-
time transport requirements. Next, we examine the philosophical approach of RTP.
The remainder of the section is devoted to the two protocols that make up RTP: the
first is simply called RTP and is a data transfer protocol; the other is a control pro-
tocol known as RTCP (RTP Control Protocol).
RTP Protocol Architecture
In RTP, there is close coupling between the RTP functionality and the application-
layer functionality. Indeed, RTP is best viewed as a framework that applications can
use directly to implement a single protocol. Without the application-specific infor-
mation, RTP is not a full protocol. On the other hand, RTP imposes a structure and
defines common functions so that individual real-time applications are relieved of
part of their burden.
RTP follows the principles of protocol architecture design outlined in a paper
by Clark and Tennenhouse [CLAR90]. The two key concepts presented in that
paper are application-level framing and integrated layer processing.
Application-Level Framing In a traditional transport protocol, such as TCP,
the responsibility for recovering from lost portions of data is performed transpar-
ently at the transport layer. [CLAR90] lists two scenarios in which it might be more
appropriate for recovery from lost data to be performed by the application:
1. The application, within limits, may accept less than perfect delivery and continue
unchecked. This is the case for real-time audio and video. For such applications,
it may be necessary to inform the source in more general terms about the qual-
ity of the delivery rather than to ask for retransmission. If too much data are
822
CHAPTER 24 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS—MULTIMEDIA
being lost, the source might perhaps move to a lower-quality transmission that
places lower demands on the network, increasing the probability of delivery.
2. It may be preferable to have the application rather than the transport protocol
provide data for retransmission. This is useful in the following contexts:
(a) The sending application may recompute lost data values rather than storing
them.
(b) The sending application can provide revised values rather than simply
retransmitting lost values, or send new data that “fix” the consequences of the
original loss.
To enable the application to have control over the retransmission function,
Clark and Tennenhouse propose that lower layers, such as presentation and trans-
port, deal with data in units that the application specifies. The application should
break the flow of data into application-level data units (ADUs), and the lower lay-
ers must preserve these ADU boundaries as they process the data. The application-
level frame is the unit of error recovery. Thus, if a portion of an ADU is lost in
transmission, the application will typically be unable to make use of the remaining
portions. In such a case, the application layer will discard all arriving portions and
arrange for retransmission of the entire ADU, if necessary.
Integrated Layer Processing In a typical layered protocol architecture, such as
TCP/IP or OSI, each layer of the architecture contains a subset of the functions to be
performed for communications, and each layer must logically be structured as a sepa-
rate module in end systems. Thus, on transmission, a block of data flows down through
and is sequentially processed by each layer of the architecture. This structure restricts
the implementer from invoking certain functions in parallel or out of the layered order
to achieve greater efficiency. Integrated layer processing, as proposed in [CLAR90],
captures the idea that adjacent layers may be tightly coupled and that the implementer
should be free to implement the functions in those layers in a tightly coupled manner.
The idea that a strict protocol layering may lead to inefficiencies has been pro-
pounded by a number of researchers. For example, [CROW92] examined the ineffi-
ciencies of running a remote procedure call (RPC) on top of TCP and suggested a
tighter coupling of the two layers. The researchers argued that the integrated layer
processing approach is preferable for efficient data transfer.
Figure 24.12 illustrates the manner in which RTP realizes the principle of inte-
grated layer processing. RTP is designed to run on top of a connectionless transport
protocol such as UDP. UDP provides the basic port addressing functionality of the
transport layer. RTP contains further transport-level functions, such as sequencing.
However, RTP by itself is not complete. It is completed by modifications and/or
additions to the RTP headers to include application-layer functionality. The figure
indicates that several different standards for encoding video data can be used in
conjunction with RTP for video transmission.
RTP Data Transfer Protocol
We first look at the basic concepts of the RTP data transfer protocol and then exam-
ine the protocol header format. Throughout this section, the term RTP will refer to
the RTP data transfer protocol.
24.4 / REAL-TIME TRANSPORT PROTOCOL (RTP)
823
H.261
MPEG
JPEG
RTP
UDP
IP
Network access
Figure 24.12
RTP Protocol Architecture [THOM96]
RTP Concepts RTP supports the transfer of real-time data among a number of
participants in a session. A session is simply a logical association among two or more
RTP entities that is maintained for the duration of the data transfer. A session is
defined by
• RTP port number: The destination port address is used by all participants for
RTP transfers. If UDP is the lower layer, this port number appears in the Des-
tination Port field (see Figure 2.3) of the UDP header.
• RTCP port number: The destination port address is used by all participants
for RTCP transfers.
• Participant IP addresses: This can either be a multicast IP address, so that the
multicast group defines the participants, or a set of unicast IP addresses.
The process of setting up a session is beyond the scope of RTP and RTCP.
Although RTP can be used for unicast real-time transmission, its strength lies
in its ability to support multicast transmission. For this purpose, each RTP data unit
includes a source identifier that identifies which member of the group generated
the data. It also includes a timestamp so that the proper timing can be re-created on
the receiving end using a delay buffer. RTP also identifies the payload format of the
data being transmitted.
RTP allows the use of two kinds of RTP relays: translators and mixers. First we
need to define the concept of relay. A relay operating at a given protocol layer is an
intermediate system that acts as both a destination and a source in a data transfer.
For example, suppose that system A wishes to send data to system B but cannot do
so directly. Possible reasons are that B may be behind a firewall or B may not be
able to use the format transmitted by A. In such a case, A may be able to send the
data to an intermediate relay R. R accepts the data unit, makes any necessary
changes or performs any necessary processing, and then transmits the data to B.
824
CHAPTER 24 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS—MULTIMEDIA
A mixer is an RTP relay that receives streams of RTP packets from one or
more sources, combines these streams, and forwards a new RTP packet stream to
one or more destinations. The mixer may change the data format or simply perform
the mixing function. Because the timing among the multiple inputs is not typically
synchronized, the mixer provides the timing information in the combined packet
stream and identifies itself as the source of synchronization.
An example of the use of a mixer is to combine of a number of on/off sources
such as audio. Suppose that a number of systems are members of an audio session
and each generates its own RTP stream. Most of the time only one source is active,
although occasionally more than one source will be “speaking” at the same time.
A new system may wish to join the session, but its link to the network may not be
of sufficient capacity to carry all of the RTP streams. Instead, a mixer could
receive all of the RTP streams, combine them into a single stream, and retransmit
that stream to the new session member. If more than one incoming stream is
active at one time, the mixer would simply sum their PCM values.The RTP header
generated by the mixer includes the identifier(s) of the source(s) that contributed
to the data in each packet.
The translator is a simpler device that produces one or more outgoing RTP
packets for each incoming RTP packet. The translator may change the format of the
data in the packet or use a different lower-level protocol suite to transfer from one
domain to another. Examples of translator use are as follows:
• A potential recipient may not be able to handle a high-speed video signal used
by the other participants. The translator converts the video to a lower-quality
format requiring a lower data rate.
• An application-level firewall may prevent the forwarding of RTP packets. Two
translators are used, one on each side of the firewall, with the outside one tun-
neling all multicast packets received through a secure connection to the trans-
lator inside the firewall. The inside translator then sends out RTP packets to a
multicast group protected by the firewall.
• A translator can replicate an incoming multicast RTP packet and send it to a
number of unicast destinations.
RTP Fixed Header Each RTP packet includes a fixed header and may also
include additional application-specific header fields. Figure 24.13 shows the fixed
header. The first 12 octets (shaded portion) are always present and consist of the fol-
lowing fields:
• Version (2 bits): Current version is 2.
• Padding (1 bit): Indicates whether padding octets appear at the end of the pay-
load. If so, the last octet of the payload contains a count of the number of
padding octets. Padding is used if the application requires that the payload be
an integer multiple of some length, such as 32 bits.
• Extension (1 bit): If set, the fixed header is followed by exactly one extension
header, which is used for experimental extensions to RTP.
• CSRC Count (4 bits): The number of CSRC (contributing source) identifiers
that follow the fixed header.
24.4 / REAL-TIME TRANSPORT PROTOCOL (RTP)
825
Bit
0
4
8
9
16
31
V
P
X
CC
M
Payload Type
Sequence Number
Timestamp
Synchronization Source (SSRC) Identifier
Contributing Source (CSRC) Identifier
Contributing Source (CSRC) Identifier
V Version
P
Padding
X
Extension
CC
CSRC count
M
Marker
Figure 24.13
RTP Header
•
Marker (1 bit): The interpretation of the marker bit depends on the payload type;
it is typically used to indicate a boundary in the data stream. For video, it is set to
mark the end of a frame. For audio, it is set to mark the beginning of a talk spurt.
•
Payload Type (7 bits): Identifies the format of the RTP payload, which follows
the RTP header.
•
Sequence Number (16 bits): Each source starts with a random sequence num-
ber, which is incremented by one for each RTP data packet sent. This allows
for loss detection and packet sequencing within a series of packets with the
same timestamp. A number of consecutive packets may have the same time-
stamp if they are logically generated at the same time; an example is several
packets belonging to the same video frame.
•
Timestamp (32 bits): Corresponds to the generation instant of the first octet of
data in the payload. The time units of this field depend on the payload type.
The values must be generated from a local clock at the source.
•
Synchronization Source Identifier: A randomly generated value that uniquely
identifies the source within a session.
Following the fixed header, there may be one or more of the following field:
•
Contributing Source Identifier: Identifies a contributing source for the pay-
load. These identifiers are supplied by a mixer.
The Payload Type field identifies the media type of the payload and the format
of the data, including the use of compression or encryption. In a steady state, a
source should only use one payload type during a session but may change the pay-
load type in response to changing conditions, as discovered by RTCP. Table 24.2
summarizes the payload types defined in RFC 1890.
826
CHAPTER 24 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS—MULTIMEDIA
Table 24.2
Payload Types for Standard Audio and Video Encodings (RFC 1890)
0
PCMU audio
16-23
unassigned audio
1
1016 audio
24
unassigned video
2
G721 audio
25
CelB video
3
GSM audio
26
JPEG video
4
unassigned audio
27
unassigned
5
DV14 audio (8 kHz)
28
nv video
6
DV14 audio (16 kHz)
29-30
unassigned video
7
LPC audio
31
H261 video
8
PCMA audio
32
MPV video
9
G722 audio
33
MP2T video
10
L16 audio (stereo)
34-71
unassigned
11
L16 audio (mono)
72-76
reserved
12-13
unassigned audio
77-95
unassigned
14
MPA audio
96-127
dynamic
15
G728 audio
RTP Control Protocol (RTCP)
The RTP data transfer protocol is used only for the transmission of user data, typi-
cally in multicast fashion among all participants in a session. A separate control pro-
tocol (RTCP) also operates in a multicast fashion to provide feedback to RTP data
sources as well as all session participants. RTCP uses the same underlying transport
service as RTP (usually UDP) and a separate port number. Each participant period-
ically issues an RTCP packet to all other session members. RFC 1889 outlines four
functions performed by RTCP:
• Quality of service (QoS) and congestion control: RTCP provides feedback on
the quality of data distribution. Because RTCP packets are multicast, all ses-
sion members can assess how well other members are performing and receiv-
ing. Sender reports enable receivers to estimate data rates and the quality of
the transmission. Receiver reports indicate any problems encountered by
receivers, including missing packets and excessive jitter. For example, an audio-
video application might decide to reduce the rate of transmission over low-
speed links if the traffic quality over the links is not high enough to support the
current rate. The feedback from receivers is also important in diagnosing distri-
bution faults. By monitoring reports from all session recipients, a network man-
ager can tell whether a problem is specific to a single user or more widespread.
• Identification: RTCP packets carry a persistent textual description of the
RTCP source. This provides more information about the source of data pack-
ets than the random SSRC identifier and enables a user to associate multiple
streams from different sessions. For example, separate sessions for audio and
video may be in progress.
• Session size estimation and scaling: To perform the first two functions, all par-
ticipants send periodic RTCP packets. The rate of transmission of such packets
must be scaled down as the number of participants increases. In a session with
24.4 / REAL-TIME TRANSPORT PROTOCOL (RTP)
827
few participants, RTCP packets are sent at the maximum rate of one every five
seconds. RFC 1889 includes a relatively complex algorithm by which each par-
ticipant limits its RTCP rate on the basis of the total session population. The
objective is to limit RTCP traffic to less than 5% of total session traffic.
• Session control: RTCP optionally provides minimal session control information.
An example is a participant identification to be displayed in the user interface.
An RTCP transmission consists of a number of separate RTCP packets bun-
dled in a single UDP datagram (or other lower-level data unit). The following
packet types are defined in RFC 1889:
• Sender Report (SR)
• Receiver Report (RR)
• Source Description (SDES)
• Goodbye (BYE)
• Application Specific
Figure 24.14 depicts the formats of these packet types. Each type begins with a
32-bit word containing the following fields:
• Version (2 bits): Current version is 2.
• Padding (1 bit): If set, indicates that this packet contains padding octets at the
end of the control information. If so, the last octet of the padding contains a
count of the number of padding octets.
• Count (5 bits): The number of reception report blocks contained in an SR or
RR packet (RC), or the number of source items contained in an SDES or
BYE packet.
• Packet Type (8 bits): Identifies RTCP packet type.
• Length (16 bits): Length of this packet in 32 bit words, minus one.
In addition, the Sender Report and Receiver Report packets contain the fol-
lowing field:
• Synchronization Source Identifier: Identifies the source of this RTCP packet
We now turn to a description of each packet type.
Sender Report (SR) RTCP receivers provide reception quality feedback using
a Sender Report or a Receiver Report, depending on whether the receiver is also a
sender during this session. Figure 24.14a shows the format of a Sender Report. The
Sender Report consists of a header, already described; a sender information block;
and zero or more reception report blocks. The sender information block includes
the following fields:
• NTP Timestamp (64 bits): The absolute wall clock time when this report was
sent; this is an unsigned fixed-point number with the integer part in the first 32
bits and the fractional part in the last 32 bits. This may be used by the sender in
combination with timestamps returned in receiver reports to measure round-
trip time to those receivers.
V
P
RC
PT
200
Length
V
P
RC
PT
201
Length
V
P
SC
PT
202
Length
SSRC of sender
SSRC of sender
SSRC/CSRC_1
NTP timestamp (most sig. word)
SSRC_1 (SSRC of first source)
SDES items
Fraction
NTP timestamp (least sig. word)
Cumulative number of packets lost
lost
RTP timestamp
Extended highest sequence number received
Sender's packet count
Interarrival jitter
Sender's octet count
Time of last sender report
SSRC/CSRC_n
SSRC_1 (SSRC of first source)
Delay since last sender report
SDES items
Fraction
Cumulative number of packets lost
lost
Extended highest sequence number received
(d) RTCP source description
Interarrival jitter
Time of last sender report
SSRC_n (SSRC of nth source)
Fraction
Delay since last sender report
Cumulative number of packets lost
V
P
SC
PT
203
Length
lost
Extended highest sequence number received
SSRC/CSRC_1
Interarrival jitter
Time of last sender report
SSRC_n (SSRC of nth source)
Delay since last sender report
SSRC/CSRC_n
Fraction
Cumulative number of packets lost
(b) RTCP receiver report
Length
lost
Reason for leaving
Extended highest sequence number received
Interarrival jitter
(e) RTCP BYE
sub-
Time of last sender report
V
P
type
PT
204
Length
Delay since last sender report
SSRC/CSRC
name (ASCII)
(a) RTCP sender report
Application-dependent data
(c) RTCP application-defined packet
Figure 24.14
RTCP Formats
24.4 / REAL-TIME TRANSPORT PROTOCOL (RTP)
829
• RTP Timestamp (32 bits): This is a the relative time used to create timestamps
in RTP data packets. This lets recipients place this report in the appropriate
time sequence with RTP data packets from this source.
• Sender’s Packet Count (32 bits): Total number of RTP data packets transmit-
ted by this sender so far in this session.
• Sender’s Octet Count (32 bits): Total number of RTP payload octets transmit-
ted by this sender so far in this session.
Following the sender information block are zero or more reception report
blocks. One reception block is included for each source from which this participant
has received data during this session. Each block includes the following fields:
• SSRC_n (32 bits): Identifies the source referred to by this report block.
• Fraction Lost (8 bits): The fraction of RTP data packets from SSRC_n lost
since the previous SR or RR packet was sent.
• Cumulative Number of Packets Lost (24 bits): Total number of RTP data
packets from SSRC_n lost during this session.
• Extended Highest Sequence Number Received (32 bits): The least significant
16 bits record the highest RTP data sequence number received from SSRC_n.
The most significant 16 bits record the number of times the sequence number
has wrapped back to zero.
• Interarrival Jitter (32 bits): An estimate of the jitter experienced on RTP data
packets from SSRC_n, explained later.
• Last SR Timestamp (32 bits): The middle 32 bits of the NTP timestamp in the
last SR packet received from SSRC_n. This captures the least significant half
of the integer and the most significant half of the fractional part of the time-
stamp and should be adequate.
• Delay Since Last SR (32 bits): The delay, expressed in units of
seconds,
2-16
between receipt of the last SR packet from SSRC_n and the transmission of
this report block. These last two fields can be used by a source to estimate
round-trip time to a particular receiver.
Recall that delay jitter was defined as the maximum variation in delay experi-
enced by packets in a single session. There is no simple way to measure this quantity
at the receiver, but it is possible to estimate the average jitter in the following way.
At a particular receiver, define the following parameters for a given source:
S(I)
Timestamp from RTP data packet I.
R(I) Time of arrival for RTP data packet I. expressed in RTP time-
stamp units. The receiver must use the same clock frequency
(increment interval) as the source but need not synchronize
time values with the source.
D(I) The difference between the interarrival time at the receiver and
the spacing between adjacent RTP data packets leaving the source.
J(I)
Estimated average interarrival jitter up to the receipt of RTP
data packet I.
830
CHAPTER 24 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS—MULTIMEDIA
Table 24.3
SDES Types (RFC 1889)
Value
Name
Description
0
END
End of SDES list
1
CNAME
Canonical name: unique among all participants within one RTP session
2
NAME
Real user name of the source
3
EMAIL
E-mail address
4
PHONE
Telephone number
5
LOC
Geographic location
6
TOOL
Name of application generating the stream
7
NOTE
Transient message describing the current state of the source
8
PRIV
Private experimental or application-specific extensions
The value of D(I) is calculated as
D1I2 = 1R1I2 - R1I - 122 - 1S1I2 - S1I - 122
Thus, D(I) measures how much the spacing between arriving packets differs from
the spacing between transmitted packets. In the absence of jitter, the spacings will
be the same and D(I) will have a value of 0. The interarrival jitter is calculated con-
tinuously as each data packet I is received, according to the formula
15
1
J1I2 =
ƒ D1I2 ƒ
16J1I-12+
16
In this equation, J(I) is calculated as an exponential average3 of observed values of
D(I). Only a small weight is given to the most recent observation, so that temporary
fluctuations do not invalidate the estimate.
The values in the Sender Report enable senders, receivers, and network man-
agers to monitor conditions on the network as they relate to a particular session. For
example, packet loss values give an indication of persistent congestion, while the jit-
ter measures transient congestion. The jitter measure may provide a warning of
increasing congestion before it leads to packet loss.
Receiver Report (RR) The format for the Receiver Report (Figure 24.14b) is
the same as that for a Sender Report, except that the Packet Type field has a differ-
ent value and there is no sender information block.
Source Description (SDES) The Source Description packet (Figure 24.14d) is
used by a source to provide more information about itself. The packet consists of a
32-bit header followed by zero or more chunks, each of which contains information
describing this source. Each chunk begins with an identifier for this source or for a
contributing source. This is followed by a list of descriptive items. Table 24.3 lists the
types of descriptive items defined in RFC 1889.
3For comparison, see Equation (20.3).
24.5 / RECOMMENDED READING AND WEB SITES
831
Goodbye (BYE) The BYE packet indicates that one or more sources are no
longer active. This confirms to receivers that a prolonged silence is due to
departure rather than network failure. If a BYE packet is received by a mixer,
it is forwarded with the list of sources unchanged. The format of the BYE
packet consists of a 32-bit header followed by one or more source identifiers.
Optionally, the packet may include a textual description of the reason for
leaving.
Application-Defined Packet This packet is intended for experimental use for
functions and features that are application specific. Ultimately, an experimental
packet type that proves generally useful may be assigned a packet type number and
become part of the standardized RTCP.
24.5 RECOMMENDED READING AND WEB SITES
[GALL91] is a good overview of MPEG. [CHIA98] is a brief survey of all the MPEG
standards. [KOEN99] provides an overview of MPEG-4; [BATT99] and [BATT00] are a more
detailed treatment. [NACK99a] and [NACK99b] cover MPEG-7 in detail.
A good technical treatment of the algorithms in this chapter is [SAYO06]. [GOOD02]
and [SCHU99] discuss SIP in the context of VoIP. [DIAN02] looks at SIP in the context of the
support of multimedia services over the Internet.
BATT99
Battista, S.; Casalio, F.; and Lande, C. “MPEG-4: A Multimedia Standard for the
Third Millennium, Part 1.” IEEE Multimedia, October-December 1999.
BATT00
Battista, S.; Casalio, F.; and Lande, C. “MPEG-4: A Multimedia Standard for the
Third Millennium, Part 2.” IEEE Multimedia, January-March 2000.
CHIA98
Chiariglione, L. “The Impact of MPEG Standards on Multimedia Industry.”
Proceedings of the IEEE, June 1998.
DIAN02
Dianda, J.; Gurbani, V.; and Jones, M. “Session Initiation Protocol Services
Architecture.” Bell Labs Technical Journal, Volume 7, Number 1, 2002.
GALL91
Gall, D. “MPEG: A Video Compression Standard for Multimedia Applica-
tions.” Communications of the ACM, April 1991.
GOOD02
Goode, B. “Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP).” Proceedings of the IEEE,
September 2002.
KOEN99
Koenen, R. “MPEG-4: Multimedia for Our Time.” IEEE Spectrum, February
1999.
NACK99a Nack, F., and Lindsay, A. “Everything You Wanted to Know about MPEG-7,
Part 1.”IEEE Multimedia, July-September 1999.
NACK99b Nack, F., and Lindsay, A. “Everything You Wanted to Know about MPEG-7,
Part 2.”IEEE Multimedia, October-December 1999.
SAYO06
Sayood, K. Introduction to Data Compression. New York: Elsevier, 2006.
SCHU99
Schulzrinne, H., and Rosenberg, J. “The IETF Internet Telephony Architecture
and Protocols.” IEEE Network, May/June 1999.
832
CHAPTER 24 / INTERNET APPLICATIONS—MULTIMEDIA
Recommended Web Sites:
• MPEG Pointers and Resources: An exhaustive list of links to MPEG-related sites,
including products, software, video files, announcements, FAQs, and technical informa-
tion.
• SIP Forum: Nonprofit organization to promote SIP. Site contains product informa-
tion, white papers, and other useful information and links.
• SIP Working Group: Chartered by IETF to develop standards related to SIP. The
Web site includes all relevant RFCs and Internet drafts.
• Audio/Video Transport Working Group: Chartered by IETF to develop standards
related to RTP. The Web site includes all relevant RFCs and Internet drafts.
• About RTP: Web site devoted to RTP developments, including technical and industry
developments.
24.6 KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
Key Terms
lossless compression
Session Description Protocol
SIP proxy server
lossy compression
(SDP)
SIP redirect server
MPEG
Session Initiation Protocol
SIP registrar
Real-Time Transport Protocol
(SIP)
voice over IP
(RTP)
SIP location service
(VoIP)
RTP Control Protocol
SIP method
(RTCP)
Review Questions
24.1
What is the distinction between lossy and lossless compression?
24.2
What are the five key services provided by SIP?
24.3
List and briefly define the major components in an SIP network.
24.4
What is the Session Description Protocol?
24.5
What are some desirable properties for real-time communications?
24.6
What is the difference between hard and soft real-time applications?
24.7
What is the purpose of RTP?
24.8
What is the difference between RTP and RTCP?
Problems
24.1
In the MPEG block diagram shown in Figure 24.2, interframe processing involves
comparing the current frame to a processed copy of preceding frames
1DCT1Q1Q
-11DCT-11F22222.
Why not do the comparison between input frames?
24.6 / KEY TERMS, REVIEW QUESTIONS, AND PROBLEMS
833
24.2
A single video source transmits 30 frames per second, each containing 2 Mbits of
data. The data experiences a delay jitter of 1 s. What size of delay buffer is required at
the destination to eliminate the jitter?
24.3
Argue the effectiveness, or lack thereof, of using RTP as a means of alleviating net-
work congestion for multicast traffic.
24.4
In RTP, senders periodically transmit a sender report message that provides an
absolute timestamp (the NTP Timestamp). The use of this absolute timestamp is
essential to synchronize multiple streams, such as a video and an audio channel. Why
can’t RTP’s Timestamp field be used for that purpose?
24.5
Illustrate how the last two fields in an RTCP SR or RR receiver report block can be
used to calculate round-trip propagation time.
This page intentionally left blank
APPENDIX
A
FOURIER ANALYSIS
A.1
Fourier Series Representation of Periodic Signals
A.2
Fourier Transform Representation of Aperiodic Signals
Power Spectral Density and Bandwidth
A.3
Recommended Reading
835
836
APPENDIX A / FOURIER ANALYSIS
“I cannot conceal from myself, in spite of your distinguished politeness, that I am
becoming intolerably tiresome with my commonplace talk.”
“On the contrary,” replied Kai Lung, “while listening to your voice I seemed to hear
the beating of many gongs of the finest and most polished brass.”
—The Wallet of Kai Lung, Ernest Bramah
In this appendix, we provide an overview of key concepts in Fourier analysis.
A.1
FOURIER SERIES REPRESENTATION
OF PERIODIC SIGNALS
With the aid of a good table of integrals, it is a remarkably simple task to determine
the frequency domain nature of many signals. We begin with periodic signals. Any
periodic signal can be represented as a sum of sinusoids, known as a Fourier series:1
q
A0
x1t2 =
+
[An cos12pnf0t2 + Bn sin12pnf0t2]
a
2
n=1
where f is the reciprocal of the period of the signal
The frequency f0 is
1f0
= 1/T2.
0
referred to as the fundamental frequency or fundamental harmonic; integer multi-
ples of f are referred to as harmonics. Thus a periodic signal with period T consists
0
of the fundamental frequency
plus integer multiples of that frequency. If
f0 = 1/T
Z 0, then x(t) has a dc component.
A0
The values of the coefficients are calculated as follows:
T
2
A0 =
x1t2 dt
TL
0
T
2
An =
x1t2 cos12pnf0t2 dt
TL
0
T
2
Bn =
x1t2 sin12pnf0t2 dt
TL
0
This form of representation, known as the sine-cosine representation, is the
easiest form to compute but suffers from the fact that there are two components at
each frequency. A more meaningful representation, the amplitude-phase represen-
tation, takes the form
q
C
0
x1t2 =
+
+ un2
aCn cos12pnf0t
2
n=1
1Mathematicians typically write Fourier series and transform expressions using the variable
which
w0,
has a dimension of radians per second and where
For physics and engineering, the f0 formu-
w0 = 2pf0.
lation is preferred; it makes for simpler expressions, and is it intuitively more satisfying to have frequency
expressed in Hz rather than radians per second.
A.2 / FOURIER TRANSFORM REPRESENTATION OF APERIODIC SIGNALS
837
This relates to the earlier representation as follows:
C0 = A0
Cn = 2A2 + B2
un = tan-1a-Bnb
An
Examples of the Fourier series for periodic signals are shown in Figure A.1.
A.2
FOURIER TRANSFORM REPRESENTATION
OF APERIODIC SIGNALS
For a periodic signal, we have seen that its spectrum consists of discrete frequency
components, at the fundamental frequency and its harmonics. For an aperiodic sig-
nal, the spectrum consists of a continuum of frequencies. This spectrum can be
defined by the Fourier transform. For a signal x(t) with a spectrum X(f ), the follow-
ing relationships hold:
q
x1t2 =
X1f2ej2pft df
L
-q
q
X1f2 =
x1t2e- j2pft dt
L
-q
where
The presence of an imaginary number in the equations is a
j
= 2-1.
matter of convenience. The imaginary component has a physical interpretation
having to do with the phase of a waveform, and a discussion of this topic is
beyond the scope of this book.
Figure A.2 presents some examples of Fourier transform pairs.
Power Spectral Density and Bandwidth
The absolute bandwidth of any time-limited signal is infinite. In practical terms,
however, most of the power in a signal is concentrated in some finite band, and the
effective bandwidth consists of that portion of the spectrum that contains most of
the power.To make this concept precise, we need to define the power spectral den-
sity (PSD). In essence, the PSD describes the power content of a signal as a func-
tion of frequency, so that it shows how much power is present over various
frequency bands.
First, we observe the power in the time domain. A function x(t) usually speci-
fies a signal in terms of either voltage or current. In either case, the instantaneous
power in the signal is proportional to
We define the average power of a
ƒ x1t2 ƒ2.
time-limited signal as
t2
1
P =
ƒ x1t2 ƒ2 dt
t1
- t
2 Lt
1
838
APPENDIX A / FOURIER ANALYSIS
Signal
Fourier Series
Square wave
A
(4A/p)
[cos(2pf1t)
(1/3) cos(2p(3f1)t)
t
(1/5) cos(2p(5f1)t)
(1/7) cos(2p(7f1)t)
0
…]
A
T
Triangular wave
C0
0
A
Cn
0
for n even
t
Cn
8A/(np)2 for n odd
0
A
T
Sawtooth wave
A0
0
A
An
0
for n even
t
Bn
(
1)(n)
(2A/pn)
0
A
T
Half-wave rectified cosine
C0
2A/p
Cn
0 for n odd
A
Cn
(2A/p)
(
1)(1
n/2)
(2/(n2
1))
t
0
for n even
T
Full-wave rectified cosine
C0
4A/p
A
Cn
(4A/p)
(
1)n
(1/(4n2
1))
t
0
A
T
Pulse train
A
Cn
(2At/T) sin(npt/T)/(npt/T))
t
0
t
T
Figure A.1
Some Common Periodic Signals and Their Fourier Series
A.2 / FOURIER TRANSFORM REPRESENTATION OF APERIODIC SIGNALS
839
Signal x(t)
Fourier Transform X(f)
Rectangular pulse
A
sin(pft)
At
pft
0
t
t/2
t/2
Triangular pulse
A
2
sin(pft)
At
pft
0
t
t
t
Sawtooth pulse
A
(jA/2pf)
{[(sin pft)/pft)]exp( jpft)
1}
0
t
t
t
Cosine pulse
A
2At
cos(pft)
p
1
(2ft)2
0
t
t/2
t/2
Figure A.2
Some Common Aperiodic Signals and Their Fourier Transforms
For a periodic signal the average power in one period is
T
1
P =
ƒ x1t2 ƒ2 dt
TL
0
We would like to know the distribution of power as a function of frequency.
For periodic signals, this is easily expressed in terms of the coefficients of the
Fourier series. The power spectral density S(f ) obeys
q
S1f2 =
ƒ Cnƒ2d1f
- nf02
a
n=-q
840
APPENDIX A / FOURIER ANALYSIS
where f0 is the inverse of the period of the signal
is the coefficient in
1f0 = 1/T2, Cn
the amplitude-phase representation of a Fourier series, and
is the unit impulse,
d1t2
or delta, function, defined as
0
if t Z
0
d1t2 = e
q
if t
= 0
q
d1t2 dt = 1
L
-q
The power spectral density S(f ) for aperiodic functions is more difficult to
define. In essence, it is obtained by defining a “period”T and allowing T to increase
0
0
without limit.
For a continuous valued function S(f ), the power contained in a band of fre-
quencies,
is
f1 6 f 6 f2,
f2
P = 2
S1f2 df
L
f1
For a periodic waveform, the power through the first j harmonics is
j
1
1
P =
2 +
C2
4C0
2a
n=1
With these concepts, we can now define the half-power bandwidth, which is
perhaps the most common bandwidth definition. The half-power bandwidth is the
interval between frequencies at which S(f ) has dropped to half of its maximum
value of power, or 3 dB below the peak value.
A.3 RECOMMENDED READING
A very accessible treatment of Fourier series and Fourier transforms is [JAME01]. For a thor-
ough understanding of Fourier series and transforms, the book to read is [KAMM00].
[BHAT05] is a useful short introduction to Fourier series.
BHAT05
Bhatia, R. Fourier Series. Washington, DC: Mathematical Association of
America, 2005.
JAME01 James, J. A Student’s Guide to Fourier Transforms. Cambridge, England: Cam-
bridge University Press, 2001.
KAMM00 Kammler, D. A First Course in Fourier Analysis. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice Hall, 2000.
APPENDIX
B
PROJECTS AND OTHER STUDENT
EXERCISES FOR TEACHING DATA
AND COMPUTER COMMUNICATIONS
B.1
Practical Exercises
B.2
Sockets Projects
B.3
Ethereal Projects
B.4
Simulation and Modeling Projects
B.5
Performance Modeling
B.6
Research Projects
B.7
Reading/Report Assignments
B.8
Writing Assignments
B.9
Discussion Topics
841
842
APPENDIX B / PROJECTS AND OTHER STUDENT EXERCISES
Analysis and observation, theory and experience must never disdain or exclude each
other; on the contrary, they support each other.
—On War, Carl Von Clausewitz
Many instructors believe that research or implementation projects are cru-
cial to the clear understanding of the concepts of data and computer com-
munications.Without projects, it may be difficult for students to grasp some
of the basic concepts and interactions among components. Projects rein-
force the concepts introduced in the book, give the student a greater appre-
ciation of the how protocols and transmission schemes work, and can
motivate students and give them confidence that they have mastered the
material.
In this text, I have tried to present the concepts as clearly as possible and
have provided nearly 400 homework problems to reinforce those concepts. Many
instructors will wish to supplement this material with projects.This appendix pro-
vides some guidance in that regard and describes support material available in
the instructor’s supplement. The support material covers nine types of projects
and other student exercises:
• Practical exercises
• Sockets programming projects
• Ethereal projects
• Simulation projects
• Performance modeling projects
• Research projects
• Reading/report assignments
• Writing assignments
• Discussion topics
B.1
PRACTICAL EXERCISES
The instructor’s supplement includes Web pages that provide a set of practical
exercises for an introduction to the use of IP over a local area network (LAN).
The exercises naturally follow one another and build on the experience of the
previous exercises. They do not however need to be attempted one after
another.The four exercises may more easily be done on four separate occasions.
The practical exercises are designed to help the student understand the opera-
tion of an Ethernet LAN and an IP network. The exercises involve using simple
network commands available on most computers. About an hour is needed to
perform all four exercises. The exercises cover the following topics: your own
network connection, computers on your LAN, computers on remote networks,
and the Internet.
B.3 / ETHEREAL PROJECTS
843
B.2
SOCKETS PROJECTS
The concept of sockets and sockets programming was developed in the 1980s in the
UNIX environment as the Berkeley Sockets Interface. In essence, a socket enables
communications between a client and server process and may be either connection
oriented or connectionless. A socket can be considered an endpoint in a communi-
cation. A client socket in one computer uses an address to call a server socket on
another computer. Once the appropriate sockets are engaged, the two computers
can exchange data.
Typically, computers with server sockets keep a TCP or UDP port open, ready
for unscheduled incoming calls. The client typically determines the socket identifica-
tion of the desired server by finding it in a Domain Name System (DNS) database.
Once a connection is made, the server switches the dialogue to a different port num-
ber to free up the main port number for additional incoming calls.
Internet applications, such as TELNET and remote login (rlogin) make use of
sockets, with the details hidden from the user. However, sockets can be constructed
from within a program (in a language such as C or Java), enabling the programmer
to easily support networking functions and applications. The sockets programming
mechanism includes sufficient semantics to permit unrelated processes on different
hosts to communicate.
The Berkeley Sockets Interface is the de facto standard application program-
ming interface (API) for developing networking applications, spanning a wide range
of operating systems. The sockets API provides generic access to interprocess com-
munications services. Thus, the sockets capability is ideally suited for students to
learn the principles of protocols and distributed applications by hands-on program
development.
The Web site for this course includes an overview of sockets programming pre-
pared especially for this book plus links to sites with more information on the sub-
ject. In addition, the instructor’s supplement includes a set of programming projects.
B.3
ETHEREAL PROJECTS
Ethereal is used by network professionals around the world for troubleshooting,
analysis, software and protocol development, and education. It has all of the stan-
dard features you would expect in a protocol analyzer, and several features not seen
in any other product. Its open source license allows talented experts in the network-
ing community to add enhancements. It runs on all popular computing platforms,
including UNIX, Linux, and Windows.
Ethereal is ideal for allowing students to study the behavior of protocols not
only because of its many features and multiplatform capability but also because stu-
dents may subsequently use Ethereal in their professional life.
The instructor’s supplement includes a Student User’s Manual and a set of
project assignments for Ethereal created specifically for use with Data and Com-
puter Communications.
844
APPENDIX B / PROJECTS AND OTHER STUDENT EXERCISES
B.4
SIMULATION AND MODELING PROJECTS
An excellent way to obtain a grasp of the operation of communication protocols
and network configurations, and to study and appreciate some of the design trade-
offs and performance implications, is by simulating key elements. A tool that is use-
ful for this purpose is cnet.
Compared to actual hardware/software implementation, simulation provides
two advantages for both research and educational use:
• With simulation, it is easy to modify various elements of a network configura-
tion or various features of a protocol, to vary the performance characteristics
of various components and then to analyze the effects of such modifications.
• Simulation provides for detailed performance statistics collection, which can
be used to understand performance tradeoffs.
The cnet network simulator [MCDO91] enables experimentation with vari-
ous data link layer, network layer, routing and transport layer protocols, and with
various network configurations. It has been specifically designed for undergradu-
ate computer networking courses and used worldwide by thousands of students
since 1991.
The cnet simulator was developed by Professor Chris McDonald at the Uni-
versity of Western Australia. Professor McDonald has developed a Student User’s
Manual and a set of project assignments specifically for use with Data and Com-
puter Communications and available to professors on request.
The cnet simulator runs under a variety of UNIX and LINUX platforms. The
software can be downloaded from the cnet Web site. It is available at no cost for
noncommercial use.
B.5
PERFORMANCE MODELING
An alternative to simulation for assessing the performance of a communications
system or networking protocol is analytic modeling. As used here, analytic modeling
refers to tools for doing queuing analysis, as well as tools for doing simple statistical
tests on network traffic data and tools for generating time series for analysis.
A powerful and easy-to-use set of tools has been developed by Professor
Kenneth Christensen at the University of South Florida. His tools page contains down-
loadable tools primarily related to performance evaluation of computer networks
and to TCP/IP sockets programming. Each tool is written in ANSI C. The format for
each tool is the same, with the program header describing tool purpose, general
notes, sample input, sample output, build instructions, execution instructions, and
author/contact information. The code is documented with extensive inline com-
ments and header blocks for all functions. The goal for each tool is that it can serve
as a teaching tool for the concept implemented by the tool (and as a model for good
programming practices). Thus, the emphasis is on simplicity and clarity. It is assumed
that the student will have access to a C compiler and have at least moderate experi-
ence in C programming.
B.8 / WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
845
Professor Christensen has developed a Student User’s Manual and a set of
project assignments specifically for use with Data and Computer Communications
and available to professors on request. The software can be downloaded from the
tools Web site. It is available at no cost for noncommercial use.
In addition, OPNET, a professional modeling tool for networking configura-
tions, is provided. An academic version is available and a student lab manual pre-
pared for this book is available from Prentice Hall.
B.6
RESEARCH PROJECTS
An effective way of reinforcing basic concepts from the course and for teaching stu-
dents research skills is to assign a research project. Such a project could involve a lit-
erature search as well as a Web search of vendor products, research lab activities,
and standardization efforts. Projects could be assigned to teams or, for smaller pro-
jects, to individuals. In any case, it is best to require some sort of project proposal
early in the term, giving the instructor time to evaluate the proposal for appropriate
topic and appropriate level of effort. Student handouts for research projects should
include
• A format for the proposal
• A format for the final report
• A schedule with intermediate and final deadlines
• A list of possible project topics
The students can select one of the listed topics or devise their own comparable
project. The instructor’s supplement includes a suggested format for the proposal
and final report plus a list of possible research topics.
B.7
READING/REPORT ASSIGNMENTS
Another excellent way to reinforce concepts from the course and to give students
research experience is to assign papers from the literature to be read and analyzed.
The instructor’s supplement includes a suggested list of papers to be assigned. All of
the papers are readily available either via the Internet or in any good college tech-
nical library. The manual also includes a suggested assignment wording.
B.8
WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
Writing assignments can have a powerful multiplier effect in the learning process in
a technical discipline such as cryptography and network security. Adherents of the
substantial benefits of writing assignments in facilitating learning. Writing assign-
ments lead to more detailed and complete thinking about a particular topic. In addi-
tion, writing assignments help to overcome the tendency of students to pursue a
846
APPENDIX B / PROJECTS AND OTHER STUDENT EXERCISES
subject with a minimum of personal engagement, just learning facts and problem-
solving techniques without obtaining a deep understanding of the subject matter.
The instructor’s supplement contains a number of suggested writing assign-
ments, organized by chapter. Instructors may ultimately find that this is the most
important part of their approach to teaching the material. I would greatly appreciate
any feedback on this area and any suggestions for additional writing assignments.
B.9
DISCUSSION TOPICS
One way to provide a collaborative experience is discussion topics, a number of which
are included in the instructor’s supplement. Each topic relates to material in the book.
The instructor can set it up so that students can discuss a topic either in a class setting,
an online chat room, or a message board. Again, I would greatly appreciate any feed-
back on this area and any suggestions for additional writing assignments.
REFERENCES
In matters of this kind everyone feels he is justified in writing and publishing the first thing
that comes into his head when he picks up a pen, and thinks his own idea as axiomatic as
the fact that two and two make four. If critics would go to the trouble of thinking about the
subject for years on end and testing each conclusion against the actual history of war, as I have
done, they would undoubtedly be more careful of what they wrote.
—On War, Carl von Clausewitz
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INDEX
A
Admission control, ISA, 629, 630
Answer section, DNS messages, 783,
Absolute bandwidth, 72
ADSL, see Asymmetrical digital
784
Accept policy, TCP, 681
subscriber line (ADSL)
Antennas, 117-119, 119-120, 125-129,
Access control, WPA, 738-739
Advanced Encryption Standard
129-133
Access point (AP), 802.11 model, 532
(AES), 707-710
atmospheric absorption, 132
Acknowledge policy, TCP, 682
Advanced Mobile Phone Service
defined, 117
Acknowledged connectionless service,
(AMPS), 427-429
effective area, 118
LLC, 460, 461
control channels, 428-429
free space loss, 129-132
Acknowledgement (ACK), 58, 215,
operation, 428
gain, 118-119
216, 218, 219, 540, 542, 677, 679
reverse control channels (RCCs),
ground wave propagation, 125
frame, 215
428-429
isotropic, 117
IEEE 802.11 MAC, 540, 542
spectral allocation, 427-428
line of sight (LOS), 125-129,
negative, 216
Aggregate peak demand, VPC, 401-402
129-133
number, TCP, 677, 679
Aggregator field, BGP, 620-621
parabolic reflective, 117-118
packet, 58
Alert Protocol, 730
sky wave propagation, 125
positive, 216
Algorithms, 362-367, 367-372, 470,
terrestrial microwave, 119-120
receive ready (RR), 218, 219
472- 473, 486, 550, 629, 686-688,
wireless propagation of, 125-129
reject (REQ), 218, 219
689-690, 705-710, 718-720,
wireless transmission by, 113-119
Active attacks, 702, 704-705. See also
723-726, 803-805
Anycast addresses, 593
Message authentication
Advanced Encryption Standard
Aperiodic signal, 68, 837, 839-840
Ad hoc networking, 526
(AES), 707-710
bandwidths, 837, 839-840
Adaptation layer (AAL), ATM, 330
ARAPNET, 362-367
defined, 68
Adaptive equalization, 426-427
Bellman-Ford, 370-371, 371-372
Fourier transform representation of,
Adaptive routing, 360-362
Data Encryption Standard (DES),
837, 839-840
Additional records section, DNS
707
power spectral density (PSD), 837,
messages, 783, 784
decryption, 706
839-840
Address field, 224, 323, 579-582, 590-591
Dijkstra’s, 368-370, 371-372
Application layer, TCP/IP, 36
destination, IP, 597, 591
encryption, 705, 707-710, 723-726
Application-defined packet, RTCP,
dotted decimal notation, 580
Jacobson’s, 686-688
828, 831
extension (EA), frame relay, 323
Karn’s, 689-690
ARAPNET, 362-367
flow label, IPv6, 590, 591-592
least-cost, 367-372
delay metrics, 366-367
HDLC, 224
MPEG video compression, 803-805
first generation routing algorithm,
Internet Protocol (IP), 579-582
nonpersistant CSMA, 486
362-364
IPv6, 590-591
routing, 362-367, 367-372, 629
second generation routing algo-
network classes, IP, 579-580
RSA public-key encryption, 723-726
rithm, 364
source, IP, 579,590
Secure Hash, 718-720
third generation routing algorithm,
subnets and subnet masks, 580-582
spanning tree, 470, 472-473
364-367
Address mask request/reply message,
Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP),
Architecture, 25-29, 32-61, 321-322,
ICMP, 585
550
329-330, 457-465, 466, 468, 503,
Address Resolution Protocol (ARP),
ALOHA, 485
531-533, 604, 625-636, 636-645,
585-586
Alternate mark inversion (AMI)
728, 762-764, 821-822
Addresses, 25, 37, 38, 541, 558
coding, 268
application-level framing, 821-822
IEEE 802.11 MAC, 541
Amplitude modulation (AM), 169-171
ATM protocol, 329-330
IP, 25
Amplitude shift keying (ASK), 139,
bridge protocol, LAN, 466, 468
PDU control information, 558
151-152
Differentiated Services (DS), 604,
subnetwork, 38
AMPS, see Advanced Mobile Phone
636-645
TCP, 37
Service (AMPS)
Fibre Channel protocol, 503
Addressing, 18, 45, 208, 562-564,
Analog, 66, 67, 78-86, 139, 140-141,
frame relay protocol, 321-322
657-658
151-161, 162-168, 168-175,
IEEE 802.11, 531-533
anycast, 593
246-247, 427-429. See also
integrated layer processing, 822
broadcast, 564
Encoding
Integrated Services (ISA), 604,
connection identifiers, 564
audio data, 78, 81-82
625-636
data link control protocol, 208
carrier systems, FDM, 246-247
Internet, 25-29
defined, 18
cellular wireless networks, 427-429
LAN protocol, 457-465
global applicability, 563
clarification of term, 66, 78
multimedia, 48-53
global nonambiguity, 563
data, 78-86, 140-141, 162-168,
Open Systems Interconnection
Host, 653
168-175
(OSI) model, 42-44
IPv6, 592-593
encoding, data and signal combina-
protocol, 32-61
level, 563
tions, 139, 140-141, 151-161,
RTP protocol, 821-822
mode, 564
162-168, 168-175
Secure Socket Layer (SSL), 728
multicast, 564, 593
integration with digital data, 86
Simple Network Management
network service, 657-658
signal, 67, 80-86, 140-141, 151-161,
Protocol (SNMP), 762-764
OSI model, 45
168-175
TCP/IP protocol, 34-42
Port, 653
signaling, 139
Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) Alliance,
protocol function, 562-564
transmission, 84-85
532
scope, 563
video data, 78-79, 82
wireless LANs (WLAN), 531-533
socket, 658
Anchor frame, video compression, 805
ARQ, see Automatic repeat request
unicast, 564, 592
Angle modulation, 171-174
(ARQ)
858
INDEX
859
AS, see Autonomous system (AS)
Attacks, 702, 704-705, 706
aperiodic signals, 837, 839-840
AS_Path attribute, BGP, 620, 621, 622
active, 702, 704-705
channel capacity, 92-93
Association-related services, 802.11
brute-force, 706
data rate and, relationship between,
model, 535
cryptanalysis, 706
72-78
Assured forwarding (AF) PFB, 644-645
passive, 702, 704
defined, 72
Asymmetric, defined, 265
Attenuation, 86-87, 88, 99, 108, 129-133
effective, 72
Asymmetrical digital subscriber line
atmospheric absorption, 132
efficiency, 158
(ADSL), 265-268
free space loss, 129-132
interlacing, 79
design, 265-267
guided transmission impairment, 108
Nyquist, 92-93
discrete multitone (DMT), 267-268
intersymbol interference, 87
3G cellular systems, 439
quadrature amplitude modulation
multipath interference, 132
transmission media and, 104
(QAM), 267
scattering, 116, 132
Barker sequence, DSSS, 544
Asynchronous balanced mode (ABM),
signal strength, 99
Base station, cellular networks, 415
222
transmission impairment, 86-87, 88
Baseband signal, 140
Asynchronous response mode (ARM),
wireless line-of-sight impairment,
Base64, transfer encoding, 758-760
222
129-133
Basic services set (BSS), 532
Asynchronous transfer mode (ATM),
Audio, 50, 78, 81-82, 801-802
Battery power consumption, wireless
8, 23-24, 296, 328-350, 394-406,
analog data, 78, 81-82
LANs, 528
406-408
compression, 801-802
Bellman-Ford algorithm, 370-371,
adaptation layer (AAL), 330
media type, 50
371-372
cell-based physical layer, 340-343
pulse-code modulation (PAM), 801
Best-effort service, 347
cell delay variation (CDV), 395-398,
transmission, 81-82
BGP, see Border Gateway Protocol
402-403
Audio type, MIME, 757
(BGP)
cells, 330, 335-340, 340-345
Authentication, 550, 588, 737-738. See
Binary data, 82-83
congestion control, 394-406,406-408
also Message authentication
Binary phase-shift keying (BPSK),
header, IPv6, 588
154-155, 277-278, 282-284
connection admission control,
IEEE 802.11, 550
FHSS using, 277-278
402-404
WPA, 737-738
FSSS using, 282-284
constant bit-rate (CBR), 402-403
Authentication Header (AH), IPSec,
signal encoding scheme, 154-155
control plane, 330
599, 734-736
Biphase encoding technique, 147-148
Forum, 8
Authenticity, defined, 703
advantages of, 147-148
Generic Flow Control (GFC), 336,
Authority section, DNS messages, 783,
differential Manchester, 147
338-339
784
digital data, digital signal encoding,
guaranteed frame rate (GFR),
Automatic repeat request (ARQ),
147-148
406-408
216-221, 236-238
Manchester code, 147
Header Error Control (HEC), 338,
continuous, 217
Bipolar-AMI scheme, 146
339-340
damaged frames, 219
Bipolar with 8-zeros substitution
introduction to, 296, 329
error control, 216-221, 236-238
(B8ZS), 150
latency/speed effects, traffic control,
go-back-N, 217-221, 238
Bit error rate (BER), 142
395
performance of, 236-238
Bit length, data link, 211
logical connections, 331-335
receive ready (RR) acknowledge-
Block code principles, 197-201
management plane, 330
ment, 218, 219
code rate, 199
non-real-time service, 345, 346-348
reject (REQ) acknowledgement,
coding gain, 200-201
peak cell rate (PCR), 402-403
218, 219
design of, 200
protocol architecture, 329-330
selective-reject, 221, 237
Hamming distance, 197
real-time service, 345-346
stop-and-wait, 217, 237
redundancy, 199
recommended reading and Web
Autonomous system (AS), 614-616,
Block-coding methods, 511
sites, 348-349
623-625
Border Gateway Protocol (BGP),
resource management, 400-402
characteristics of, 614-615
618-623
SDH-based physical layer, 343-345
exterior router protocol (ERP), 616
functions, 618-619
selective cell discard, 405
interior router protocol (IRP),
internetwork routing, 618-623
services, 345-348
615-616
messages, 619-621
sustainable cell rate (SCR), 402-403
OSPF example of, 623-625
neighbor acquisition, 618
Synchronous Digital Hierarchy
Aux Data Length, IGMP, 613
neighbor reachability, 618
(SDH), 329, 343-345
Auxiliary Data field, IGMP, 613
Network Layer Reachability
traffic management, 394-406
Availability, defined, 703
Information (NLRI) field, 620,
traffic shaping, 405-406
Available bit rate (ABR), 345, 347
622
transmission of cells, 340-345
network reachability, 619
usage parameter control (UPC),
Notification Message, 621
404-405
B
Path Attributes field, 620-621
use of, 23-24
Backbone LANs, 15, 450-451, 485,
routing information exchange,
user plane, 330
527-528
621-623
variable-bit rate (VBR), 402-403
function of, 450-451
Total Path Attributes Length field,
virtual paths, 400-402
high-speed local, 15, 485
620
Asynchronous transmission, 181,
wireless connection to, 527-528
Bottom-up approach, 3-5
182-185
Backend networks, 448-449
Bridges, 465-473, 567
defined, 181
Backpressure, 384
address learning, 471-472
framing error, 184
Backus-Naur Form (BNF), 788-790
fixed routing, 468-471
idle state, 183
Backward explicit congestion
frame forwarding, 471
stop element, 183
notification (BECN), 393
functions of, 466, 467
ATM, see Asynchronous transfer
Balanced configuration, HDLQ, 222
internetworking, 567
mode (ATM)
Bandwidth, 72-78, 79, 92-93, 104, 158,
LAN use of, 465-473
Atmospheric absorption, 132
439, 837, 839-840
protocol architecture, 466, 468
Atomic_Aggregate field, BGP, 620-621
absolute, 72
spanning tree, 470, 471-473
860
INDEX
Broadcast addressing, 564
insertion time, 399
traffic, 420, 429, 433
Broadcast radio, see Radio
Payload Type (PT), 337
user-to-network signaling virtual,
Broadcast storm, 477
SDH-based physical layer, 343-345
335
Broadcast strategy, multicasting,
transmission of, 340-345
user-to-user signaling virtual, 335
606-607
use of, 335
Check bits, 187-188
Buffer management, GFR, 407
Virtual Channel Identifier (VCI),
Checksum, 38, 583, 611, 613, 679
Bus topology, 447, 451-453, 454
337
ICMP, 583
Virtual Path Identifier (VPI), 336
IGMP, 611, 613
Cellular wireless networks, 296,
TCP, 38, 679
C
413-443. See also Mobile
Chip rate, 3G cellular systems, 439
Cable, 112, 264-265
communication
Chipping signal, 279
coaxial, 112
Advanced Mobile Phone Service
Choke packet, 384-385
modem, 264-265
(AMPS), 427-429
Circuit switching, 23, 295, 298, 301-304,
headend, 264
analog, 427-429
304-307, 307-309, 315-317
Cache, HTTP, 788
base station, 415
concepts, 304-307
Call establishment, VCC and VPC, 332
capacity, 417-419
control unit, 305
Call functions, MTSO, 421-422
channel access, 429
data transfer, 301
Call sequence integrity, VCC and
code division multiple access
defined, 298
VPC, 334
(CDMA), 429-436
digital switch, 304-305
Capacity utilization, digital
control channels, 420
disconnect, 301
transmission, 86
design considerations, 430-431,
establishment, 301, 303
Carrier extension, Gigabit Ethernet,
438-440
media gateway (MG), 308-309
495
digital traffic channels, 429
media gateway controller (MGC),
Carrier sense multiple access (CSMA),
encryption, 429
308-309
486-490
error detection and correction, 429
network interface, 305
collision detection, with
fading, 424-427
networks, 23, 301-304
(CSMA/CD), 483, 488-490
first-generation systems, 427-429
node delay, 315-316
nonpersistent CSMA algorithm, 486
frequency reuse, 416-417
packet switching, comparison to,
1-persitent protocol, 487
introduction to, 296, 414
315-317
p-persistent protocol, 487- 488
mobile radio propagation effects,
private branch exchange (PBX), 305
Carrier sense multiple access with
422-424
propagation delay, 315-316
collision detection
mobile telecommunications switch-
public telecommunications network,
(CSMA/CD), 483, 488-490,
ing office (MTSO), 419-422
302-303
517-518
operation of systems, 419-422
softswitch architecture, 307-309
backoff, 488
organization, 415-419
space division switching, 305-307
binary exponential backoff, 490
paging, 421, 433
time division switching, 307
description of, 488490
principles of, 415-427
transmission time, 315-316
model, high-speed LANs, 517-518
recommended reading and Web
use of, 23, 295, 298
operation, 489
sites, 440-441
Circuits, 310, 303, 310, 321-313, 318-319
Carrier signal, 139
second generation systems, 429-436
disconnect, 301
Carrier systems, 246-247, 253-255
third generation (3G) systems,
establishment, 301, 303
analog, 246-247
432-440
virtual, 310, 321-313, 318-319
digital, 253-255
traffic channels, 420, 429, 433
Classifier, DS traffic conditioning
FDM, 246-247
Center frequency, 77
function, 642-643
pulse code modulation (PCM), 254
Central office (CO), defined, 27, 28
Clear to Send (CTS), IEEE 802.11
signaling bit, 254
Centralized server farms, 14-15
MAC, 540, 542
subcarrier, 243
Change Cipher Spec Protocol, 730
Client, SIP, 812
TDM, 253-255
Channel capacity, 91-96
Clocking, 143-144
CDMA, see Code division multiple
bandwidth, 92
Coaxial cable, 112, 456
access (CDMA)
data rate, 91
baseband, 456
Cell-based physical layer, ATM,
defined, 91
broadband, 456
340-343
Eb/N0 expression, 94-96
guided transmission media, 112
Cell delay variation (CDV), 395-398,
error rate, 92
Code, 147, 162-165, 187-188, 196-201,
402-403
noise, 93
254, 275, 276, 287-290, 558,
ATM networks, 395-397
Nyquist bandwidth, 92-93
715-716. See also Digital signal
connection admission control,
Shannon formula, 93-94
encoding; Encoding
402-403
signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), 93-94
block code principles, 197-201
UNI, 397-398
Channel structure, IEEE 802.11a, 545
division multiple access (CDMA),
Cell Loss Priority (CLP) bit, ATM, 337
Channels, 243, 250, 335, 417, 420,
275, 276, 287-290
Cell sectoring, cellular capacity, 418
428-429, 432-433. See also Fibre
division multiplexing (CDM), 276
Cell splitting, cellular capacity, 417
Channel
error-correcting, 196-201
Cells, ATM, 330, 335-340, 340-345,
access, cellular networks, 429
error-detecting, 187-188, 558
395-398, 399, 402-403
adding new, cellular, 417
Manchester, 147
cell-based physical layer, 340-343
AMPS, 428-429
message authentication (MAC),
cell delay variation (CDV), 395-398,
cellular wireless networks, 417, 420
715-716
402-403
control, 420, 428-429
pulse code modulation (PCM),
Cell Loss Priority (CLP), 337
digital traffic, 429
162-165 , 254
controlled cell transfer (CCT),
FDM, 243
rate, 199
ATM, 330
IS-95 CDMA, 432-433
redundancy, 199
defined, 330
meta-signaling, 335
Code division multiple access
Generic Flow Control (GFC), 336,
paging, 433
(CDMA), 275, 276, 287-290,
338-339
pilot, 433
429-436
Header Error Control (HEC), 338,
reverse control (RCC), 428-429
advantages for cellular network,
339-340
synchronization, 433
430
header format, 336-338
TDM, 250
cellular systems, 429-436
INDEX
861
defined, 275
Congestion avoidance, frame relays,
GFC mechanism, 336
DSSS, use for, 289-290
389, 393-394
real-time service, 345, 346
forward link, 432-434
Congestion control, 296, 377-412,
Content types, MIME, 753-757
frequency diversity, 430
640-641, 683-693, 826
Contention, MAC traffic approach,
graceful degradation, 430
ATM traffic management, 394-406
464
IS-95 scheme, 432-436
ATM-GFR traffic management,
Contention-Free (CF)-end, IEEE
mobile wireless design, 430-431
406-408
802.11 MAC, 542
multipath resistance, 430
backpressure, 384
Contributing source (CSRC), 824-825
near-far problems, 430
choke packet, 384-385
count, 824
orthogonal property, 288
DS queuing, 640-641
identifier, 825
principles of, 287-289
dynamic window sizing, 691
Control channels, cellular wireless
privacy, 430
effects of, 379-383
networks, 420
RAKE receiver, 431
explicit signaling, 385-386, 389,
Control field, 224, 464
reverse link, 435-436
393-394
HDLC, 224
self-jamming, 430
exponential average, 684-686
MAC, 464
use of, 276
exponential RTO backoff, 688-689
Control frames, 802.11 MAC, 541
Code division multiplexing (CMA),
fast recovery, 693
Control module (SM), wireless LANs,
276
fast retransmit, 691-693
524
Codec (coder-decoder), 162
frame relays, 388-394
Control plane, 321, 330
Codeword, defined, 197
ideal performance, 381-382
ATM, 330
Coding, 545-546, 804
implicit signaling, 385, 389
frame relay, 321
Huffman, video compression, 804
introduction to, 296, 378-379
Control signaling, 335
IEEE 802.11a, 545-546
Jacobson’s algorithm, 686-688
Control unit, circuit switching, 305
Collocated network operation, wireless
Karn’s algorithm, 689-690
Controlled cell transfer (CCT), ATM,
LANs, 528
packet-switching networks, 387-388
330
Color subsampling, video compression,
practical performance, 382-383
Controlled load service, ISA, 633
803
recommended reading, 409
CRC, see Cyclic redundancy check
Combined station, HDLQ, 222
retransmission timer (RTO), 686
(CRC)
Commands, SMTP, 748
retransmission timer management,
Cross-building interconnect, wireless
Committed burst size, 391
683-690
LANs, 525
Committed information rate (CIR),
RTP Control Protocol (RTCP), 826
Crosstalk, 90
frame relays, 390-392
round-trip time (RTT), 684
CSMA, see Carrier sense multiple
Communications network, 299-300
RTT variance estimation, 686-688
access (CSMA)
defined, 299
simple average, 684
CSMA/CD, see Carrier sense multiple
nodes, 299, 300
slow start, 690-691
access with collision detection
public telecommunications, 302-303
TCP, 683-693
(CSMA/CD)
stations, 299
techniques, 383-386
Customer premises equipment (CPE),
switched, 299-300
traffic management, 386-387,
defined, 26-27, 28
Complementary code keying (CCK),
389-392, 394-406, 406-408
Cut-through switch, 476
547-548
traffic rate management, 389-392
Cyclic redundancy check (CRC),
Compression, 52, 729, 800-808
window management, 690-693
189-196
audio, 801-802
Congestion recovery, frame relays, 389
digital logic, 194-196
lossless, 801
Connection, 399, 402-404, 559-561,
polynomial division, 192-193
lossy, 801
564, 663-665, 673-674, 680,
modulo 2 arithmetic, 189-192
Moving Pictures Experts Group
749-750, 751
(MPEG), 801
admission control, ATM, 402-404
multimedia, 52, 800-808
connection closing, SMTP, 751
D
pulse amplitude modulation (PAM),
control, protocol function, 559-561
Damaged frame, 216
801
duration, traffic and congestion con-
Data, defined, 78
pulse code modulation (PCM), 801
trol, 399
DATA command, SMTP, 750
SSL Record Protocol, 729
establishment, 663, 680
Data communications, 1-8, 9, 10-31,
video, 803-808
identifiers, addressing, 564
62-64, 65-101, 102-137,
Computer-aided design (CAD), 15
logical, ATM, 331-335
138-179, 180-206, 207-238,
Computer Emergency Response Team
reliable network transport, 663-665
239-273, 274-294. See also
(CERT) Coordination Center
retransmit-SYN timer, 670
Digital data communication;
(CERT/CC), 732
setup, SMTP, 749-750
Encoding; Signals
Computer security, 703
TCP, 680
bottom-up versus top-down ap-
Confidentiality, 703, 705-713. See also
termination, 663-665, 673-674, 680
proaches to, 3-5
Symmetric encryption
three-way handshake procedure,
capacity requirements, 14
Configuration, 29-31, 201-203, 222,
671-673
configuration, example of, 29-31
495, 528, 529-530
unreliable network transport, 673-674
corporate wide area networking
balanced, HDLQ, 222
Connection-mode service, LLC, 460,
(WAN), 15
diffused, IR LANs, 530
461
course emphasis, 3
dynamic, LANs, 528
Connection-oriented mechanisms, see
data link control, 207-238
Ethernets, mixed, 495
Network service
digital, 180-206
example of, 29-31
Connectionless operation, 460-461,
digital electronics, 15-16
infrared (IR) LANs, 529-530
568-569, 570-571
encoding, 138-179
line, 201-203
acknowledged service, 460, 461
high-speed LANs, emergence of,
omnidirectional, IR LANs, 529
internetworking, 568-569
14-15
spread spectrum LANs, 530
IP approach, 570-571
industry standards, 6-8
unbalanced, HDLQ, 222
unacknowledged service, 460-461
Internet, 25-29
Confirm primitive, 47
Constant bit rate (CBR), 336, 345, 346,
introduction to, 11
Confirmed service, defined, 48
402-403
model of, 16-18, 19-20
Conformance, GFR, 408
connection admission control,
multiplexing, 239-273
Congestion, adaptive routing, 360
402-403
networking and, 12-16
862
INDEX
Data communications (cont.)
digital, 78-86, 141-151, 151-161
Destination, defined, 17
networks, 22-24
encoding, 138-179
Destination address, 38, 464, 490, 541,
outline of book, 2
frequency, 67, 68-69, 70-72, 77
577, 591
overview of, 9
impairments, 86-91
IEEE 802.11 MAC, 541
reader’s and instructors guide, 1-8
integration, 86
IEEE 802.3, (DA), 490
services, 12-13
interlacing bandwidth, 79
IP protocol, 577, 579
spread spectrum, 274-294
introduction to, 66-67
IPv6, 591
traffic, 12
key terms for, 141-142
MAC, 464
transmission, 17, 20-21, 65-101,
privacy, 86
subnetwork, 38
102-137, 182-186
recommended reading and Web site,
Destination Options header, IPv6, 588,
trends, 12-13
96
595
Web and Internet resources, 5-6
security, 86
Destination port, TCP, 37, 676
Data Encryption Standard (DES), 707
signals, 67-72, 78, 80-86, 86-91,
Destination unreachable message,
Data field, IP protocol, 579
99-101
ICMP, 584
Data frame, 214-215, 542
text, 79
Differential encoding, 144-145
802.11 MAC, 542
video, 78-79, 82-83
Differential Manchester, 147
flow control using, 214-215
Data transparency, 224
Differentiated Services (DS)
Data integrity, digital transmission, 86
Data types, SNMPv2, 767
architecture, 604, 636-645
Data length, 574, 577
Data Unit Identifier (ID), 574
codepoint, 639-640
IP fragmentation and reassembly,
Database, DNS, 777-778
configuration and operation of,
574
Datagrams, 25, 38-39, 41, 310-311, 573.
641-643
IP protocol, 577
See also Packets
congestion control, 640-641
Data link connection identifier
Internet use of, 25
fields, 639-641
(DLIC), frame relay, 323
IP design, 573
Per-hop behavior (PHB), 642-645
Data link control protocols, 207-238
lifetime, 573
queue service, 640
addressing, 208
packet switching, approach to, 310,
queuing disciple, 640
automatic repeat request (ARQ),
311
route selection, 640
216-221, 236-238
segments, IP, 38
service level agreement (SLA),
bit length of data link, 211
UDP, 38-39
637-639
control and data on same link, 209
DCF, see Distributed coordination
services of, 637-639
data link control, 207-238
function (DCF)
terminology for, 638
defined, 208
Deauthentication, IEEE 802.11, 550
traffic conditioning functions,
error control, 208, 216-221
Decibels, 99-101
642-643
flow control, 208, 209-216, 232-236
dBm (decibel-milliWatt), 101
use of, 604, 636-637
frame synchronization, 208
dBmV (decibel millivolt), 101
Diffraction, mobile communication,
high-level data link control
dBW (decibel-Watt), 101
425
(HDLC), 222-228
gain, 100
Digital, 68, 78-86, 139, 140, 141-151,
introduction to, 208-209
loss, 100
151-161, 162-168, 253-255,
link management, 209
signal strength and, 99-101
304-305, 429. See also Digital
performance issues, 232-238
Decision time and place, routing, 355
data communication; Encoding
recommended reading, 228-229
Delay, 52, 60, 87, 89, 315-316, 366-367,
binary data, 82-83
sliding-window flow control,
395-398, 402-403, 514-517,
capacity utilization, 86
212-216, 234-236
537-540, 628, 809-810
carrier systems, TDM, 253-255
stop-and wait flow control, 210-212,
ARAPNET metrics, 366-367
clarification of term, 66, 78
232-234
cell delay variation (CDV), 395-398,
data integrity, 86
Data networks, congestion control in,
402-403
data, 78-86, 140, 141-151, 151-161
377-412
circuit and packet switching,
integration with analog data, 86
Data Offset, TCP, 677
315-316
International Reference Alphabet
Data packet, 58
defined, 52
(IRA), 79-80
Data signaling rate, 141
distortion, 87, 89
privacy, 86
Data stream push, 675
high-speed LANs, 514-517
security, 86
Data transfer, 226, 301, 322-323, 680,
inelastic traffic, 52, 628
signal, 68, 80-86, 140, 141-151,
822-826
interframe space (IFS), 537-540
162-168
circuit switching, 301
intersymbol interference, 87
signaling, 139
fixed header, RTP, 824-826
jitter, 809-810
switch, 304-305
frame relay, 322-323
node, 315-316
technology, 86
HDLC, 226
propagation, 315-316, 514-517
text, 79
mixer, RTP,
TFTP, 60
traffic channels, 429
RTP protocol, 822-826
traffic management, ATM, 395-398,
transmission, 85-86
sessions, RTP, 823
402-403
Digital data communication, 180-206
TCP, 680
transmission impairment from, 87,
asynchronous transmission, 181,
translator, RTP, 824
89
182-185
user, 322-232
transmission time, 315-316
block code principles, 197-201
Data transmission, 65-101, 138-179
variation, 52
correction of errors, 181, 196-201
analog, 78-86, 162-168, 168-174
Deliver policy, TCP, 681
cyclic redundancy check (CRC),
audio, 78, 81-82
Delivery, 534-535, 536, 561, 666
189-196
binary, 82-83
MAC service data units (MSDU),
detection of errors, 181, 186-196
capacity utilization, 86
534-535
errors, 186-201
channel capacity, 91-96
ordered, 561, 666
full-duplex transmission, 203
concepts and terminology of, 67
reliable data, IEEE 802.11, 536
half-duplex transmission, 202-203
data integrity, 86
Delta modulation (DM), 165-167
introduction to, 181-182
data rate and bandwidth, relation-
Denial of service (DoS), 646, 704
line configurations, 201-203
ship between, 72-78
Dense wavelength division
parity check, 188-189
decibels and signal strength, 99-101
multiplexing (DWDM), 12,
recommended reading, 203
defined, 78
247-248
synchronization, 181
INDEX
863
synchronous transmission, 181,
operation, 779-784
delta modulation (DM), 165-167
182-183, 185-186
recommended reading and Web site,
differential Manchester, 147
techniques, 180-206
795-796
differential, 144-145
topology, 201-202
resource records (RRs), 777-778
digital data, analog signals, 140,
Digital logic, 194-196
server hierarchy, 779-782
151-161
Digital signal encoding, 508-514
use of, 700, 744
digital data, digital signals, 140,
block-coding methods, 511
zone, 779-781
141-151
8B6T, 511-513
Don’t fragment identifier, IP protocol,
digital signal, LANs, 508-514
8B/10B, 513
577
digital signaling, 139
4B/5B-NRZI, 508-510
Dotted decimal notation, IP addresses,
8B6T, 511-513
high-speed LANs, 508-514
580
8B/10B, 513
MLT-3 scheme, 510-511
Driver, MLT-3 encoding, 510
error detection, 144
nonreturn to zero inverted (NRZI),
Dropper, DS traffic conditioning
evaluation of techniques, 142-144
508-510
function, 642-643
frequency modulation (FM),
64B/66B, 513-514
DS/ECN field, 578, 590
171-174
Digital signatures, 722-723
DSSS, see Direct sequence spread
frequency shift keying (FSK),
Digital versatile disks (DVDs), 15-16
spectrum (DSSS)
152-154
Digitization, 162
Duplicate detection, unreliable
introduction to, 139-141
Dijkstra’s algorithm, 368-370, 371-372
network service, 667-668
Manchester code, 147
Direct broadcast satellite (DBS), 122
Duration/Connection ID, IEEE 802.11
MLT-3, 510-511
Direct current (dc) component, 72, 836
MAC, 541
modulation, 139-140, 141, 148-149,
Direct link, defined, 67
Dynamic configuration, LANs, 528
162-165, 165-167, 169-171,
Direct sequence spread spectrum
Dynamic window sizing, TCP
171-174
(DSSS), 275, 282-286, 289-290,
congestion control, 691
multilevel binary, 146-147
543, 544
noise immunity, 144
Barker sequence, 544
nonreturn to zero (NRZ), 144-145,
BPSK, using, 282-284
E
508
CDMA use for, 289-290
Echo/echo reply message, ICMP,
nonreturn to zero inverted (NZRI),
defined, 275
584-585
508-509
exclusive-OR (XOR), use of, 282
Effective bandwidth, see Bandwidth
performance of digital-to-analog,
IEEE 802.11 physical layer, 543, 544
8B6T encoding, 511-513
158-160
performance considerations, 284-286
8B/10B encoding, 513
phase modulation (PM), 171-174
Directed-beam IR LANs, 529
Elastic traffic, 51-52, 625-628
phase shift keying (PSK), 154-158
Discard eligibility (DE), frame relays,
ISA, 625-628
pulse code modulation (PCM),
390
multimedia, 51-52
162-165
Discard policy, IAS, 629
Electromagnetic spectrum, 105
quadrature amplitude modulation
Discard strategy, frame relays, 389
Electromagnetic waves, 125
(QAM), 161
Disconnect (DISC) frame, HDLC, 226
Electronic mail, 699, 744-760, 770-772
quoted-printable transfer, 757-758
Discrete cosine transformation (DCT),
introduction to, 699, 744
recommended reading, 175
video compression, 803-804
Multi-Purpose Internet Mail
run-length, video compression, 804
Discrete multitone (DMT), 267-268
Extension Protocol, 744,
sampling theorem, 162
Disparity control, 8B/10B encoding,
752-760
scrambling, 149-151
513
operation of, 745-747
signal interference, 144
Distance-vector routing, 616
recommended reading and Web site,
signal spectrum, 143
Distributed coordination function
770-771
signal techniques, 138-179
(DCF), 536, 537-540
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
64B/66B, 513-514
interframe space (DIFS), 539
(SMTP), 744, 745-752
transfer, MIME, 757-760
Mac sublayer, 536, 537-540
Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP),
Encryption, 702, 705-713, 714,
Distributed foundation wireless MAC
588, 599, 736
720-727, 729
(DFWMAC), 536
IPSec protocol, 599
Advanced Encryption Standard
Distribution system (DS), 532, 534-535
IPv6 header, 588
(AES), 707-710
802.11 model, 532, 534-535
network security format, 736
algorithms, 705, 707-710, 723-726
defined, 534
Encapsulation, protocol function, 558
confidentiality and, 705-713
integration, 534-535
Encoder, MLT-3 encoding, 510
Data Encryption Standard (DES),
messages distributed within, 534-535
Encoding, 138-179, 508-514, 757-760,
707
Diversity, 427, 430
804. See also Digital signal
devices, location of, 710-711
fading, 427
encoding
key management, 726-727
frequency, 427, 430
amplitude modulation (AM),
message authentication and, 714
space, 427
169-171
public-key, 702, 720-727
DNS, see Domain Name System
amplitude shift keying (ASK),
RSA algorithm, 723-726
(DNS)
151-152
SSL Record Protocol, 729
Domain, 67-70, 70-72, 775-777
analog data, analog signals, 140-141,
symmetric, 702, 705-713, 714
defined, 775
168-175
End system (ES), 566
frequency, 67, 70-72
analog data, digital signals, 140,
Entities, HTTP, 794-795
Internet, 776
162-168
Envelope, SMTP, 754
names, DNS, 775-777
analog signaling, 139
Error, 18, 58, 60, 92, 94-96, 142, 144,
signal transmission, 67-70, 70-72
angle modulation, 171-174
163-164, 181, 184, 186-196,
time, 67-70
baseband signal, 140
196-201, 208, 216-221, 236-238,
Domain Name System (DNS), 700,
base64, 758-760
426-427, 558, 621
774-784
biphase, 147-148
adaptive equalization, 426-427
database, 777-778
bit error rate (BER), 142
automatic repeat request (ARQ),
defined, 774
carrier signal, 139
216-221, 236-238
domain names, 775-777
clocking, 143-144
BGB Notification Message, 621
messages, 782-784
codec (coder-decoder), 162
bit error rate (BER), 142
name resolution, 782
cost and complexity of, 144
block code principles, 197-204
864
INDEX
Error (cont.)
Exclusive-OR (XOR), DSSS, 282
Fields, 223-224, 577-579, 611-613,
burst, 186
Expedited forwarding (EF) PHB,
620-621, 676-679
channel capacity, 92, 94-96
643-644
BGP Path Attributes, 620-621
check bits, 187-188
Explicit Congestion Notification
HDLC, 223-224
code for detecting, 187-188
(ECN) field, 578
IGMP, 611-613
codeword, 197
Explicit congestion signaling, 385-386,
IP, 577-579
compensation mechanisms, fading,
389, 393-394
TCP, 676-679
426-427
backward, 385-386
File Transfer Protocol (FTP), 41, 48
correction of, 18, 181, 196-201
backward explicit congestion notifi-
First-in-first-out queuing (FIFO),
cyclic redundancy check (CRC),
cation (BECN), 393
633-634
189-196
binary, 386
Fixed routing, 356-357, 468-471
damaged frame, 216
congestion avoidance, 389, 393-394
Flag and Frame Check Sequence
detecting code, 558
credit-based, 386
(FCS) field, frame relay, 323
detection, 18, 144, 181, 186-196,
forward, 386
Flags, 223-224, 578, 677, 679
216
forward explicit congestion notifica-
HDLC, 223-224
digital data communication,
tion (FECN), 393
IP protocol, 578
186-201
rate-base, 386
TCP, 677, 679
digital logic, 194-196
Exponential average, TCP congestion
Flat fading, 426
Eb/N0 expression, 94-96
control, 684-686
Flooding, routing strategy of, 357-359
forward correction, 426
Exponential RTO backoff, 688-689
Flow control, 18, 208, 209-216,
framing, 184
Extended service set (ESS), 802.11
232-236, 561, 576, 659-663,
lost frame, 216
model, 533
668-673
modulo 2 arithmetic, 189-192
Exterior router protocol (ERP), 616
acknowledgment number (AN), 661
negative acknowledgement, 216
data link control protocol, 208,
packet, 58
209-216
parity check, 188-189
F
defined, 18, 208
polynomial division, 192-193
Fabric, Fibre Channel network, 502
IP design, 576
positive acknowledgement, 216
Facility requests, 38
performance issues, 232-238
quantizing noise, 163-164
Fading, 424-427
persist timer, 669
rate, 92, 94-96
defined, 422
protocol function, 561
retransmission after timeout, 216
diffraction, 425
reliable network service transport,
single-bit, 186
diversity, 427
659-663
TFTP, 60
error compensation mechanisms,
sequence number (SN), 661
Error control, 208, 216-221, 236-238,
426-427
sliding-window, 212-216, 234-236
338, 339-340, 561-562, 576
fast, 426
stop-and wait, 210-212, 232-234
automatic repeat request (ARQ),
flat, 426
unreliable network service, 668-673
216-221, 236-238
mobile environment, in, 424
window (W), 661
data link control protocols, 208,
multipath propagation, 424-426
Flow label, IPv6, 590, 591-592
216-221
reflection, 424
Forward explicit congestion
frames, 216-221
scattering, 425
notification (FECN), 393
Header Error Control (HEC) field,
selective, 426
4B/5B-NRZI encoding, 508-510
ATM, 338, 339-340
slow, 426
Four-level PSK, see Quadrature phase-
IP design, 576
types of, 426
shift keying (QPSK)
protocol function, 561-562
Failure, adaptive routing, 360
Fourier analysis, 835-840
Ethernets, 483, 485-500
Failure recovery, unreliable network
aperiodic signals, 837, 839-840
ALOHA, 485
service, 674
periodic signals, 836-837, 838
carrier sense multiple access
Fairness, congestion traffic
recommended reading, 840
(CSMA), 486-490
management, 386-387
series representation, 836-837, 838
collision, 485
Fast Ethernet, 483, 493-493
transform representation, 837,
CSMA/CD, 483, 488-490
Fast fading, 426
839-840
defined, 483
Fast forward/reverse searches, video
Fragment header, IPv6, 588, 594-595
Fast, 483, 493-493
compression, 804
Fragment Offset field, IP protocol,
full duplex operation, 494-495
Fast recovery, TCP congestion control,
578-579
Gigabit, 483, 495-497
693
Fragmentation and reassembly,
IEEE 802.3, 485-495
Fast retransmit, TCP congestion
558-559, 573-576, 729
MAC frame, IEEE 802.3 protocol,
control, 691-693
Data Length, 574
490-492
FDM, see Frequency division
Data Unit Identifier (ID), 574
medium access control (MAC),
multiplexing (FDM)
IP design, 573-576
485-492
Federal Communications Commission
More Flag, 574, 575
mixed configurations, 495
(FCC) licensing, 528, 530
Offset, 574, 575
100BASE-T4, 494
FHSS, see Frequency-hopping spread
protocol function, 558-559
100BASE-X, 494
spectrum (FHSS)
SSl Record Protocol, 729
100-Mbps specifications, 493
Fiber optic transmission, see Optical
Frame Check Sequence (FCS), 492,
precursors to, 485-488
fiber transmission
541
10-Gpbs, 497-500
Fibre Channel, 483, 500-504
Frame forwarding, 471
10-Mbps specifications, 492-493
elements, 502-503
Frame ordering, video compression,
Excess burst size, 391
fabric, 502
807-808
Exchanges, 18, 302-303, 599, 621-623,
I/O channel requirements, 500-501
Frame relay, 23, 319-323, 388-394
730-732
network channel requirements,
Address field extension (EA), 323
Handshake Protocol, 730-732
501-502
background of, 320-321
key, IPSec, 599
nodes, 502
backward explicit congestion notifi-
management, 18
prospects for, 504
cation (BECN), 393
public telecommunications network,
protocol architecture, 503
committed burst size, 391
302-303
topologies, 504
committed information rate (CIR),
routing information, BGP, 621-623
transmission media, 503
390-392
INDEX
865
congestion avoidance, 389, 393-394
fundamental, 72, 836
Group-specific query, IGMP, 611
congestion control, 388-394
infrared, 117
Guaranteed frame rate (GFR), 345,
congestion recovery, 389
microwave, 117
348, 406-408
control plane, 321
radio, 117
ATM service, 345, 348
data link connection identifier
reuse, 416-417
buffer management, 407
(DLIC), 323
spectrum, 72
conformance, 408
discard eligibility (DE), 390
transmission media, of, 105
policing, 407
discard strategy, 389
wireless transmission bands, 126
quality of service (QoS) eligibility
excess burst size, 391
Frequency division multiplexing
test, 408
explicit signaling, 393-394
(FDM), 240, 241, 242-248
rate guarantees, mechanisms for
Flag and Frame Check Sequence
analog carrier systems, 246-247
supporting, 406-407
(FCS) field, 323
channel, 243
scheduling, 407-408
forward explicit congestion notifica-
characteristics of, 242-246
tagging, 407
tion (FECN), 393
dense wavelength division multi-
traffic management, ATM, 406-408
implicit signaling, 389
plexing (DWDM), 247-248
Guaranteed service, ISA, 632-633
network response, 393
subcarrier, 243
Guided transmission media, 67, 103,
networks and, 23
TV signals, 243-244
104-116
protocol architecture, 321-322
use of, 240, 241
attenuation of, 108
traffic rate management, 389-392
voiceband signals, 244-246
coaxial cable, 112
user data transfer, 322-323
wavelength division multiplexing
defined, 67, 103
user plane, 321-322
(WDM), 247-248
optical fiber, 112-116
user response, 393-394
Frequency-hopping spread spectrum
point-to-point characteristics, 67,
Frame structure, physical layer, 546,
(FHSS), 275, 277-282, 543,
104, 106
548
544-545
twisted pair, 104-111
Frame transmission, LAN topologies,
approach to, 277-279
453-455
binary phase shift keying (BPSK),
Frames, 185, 208, 213, 214-215,
using, 277-278
H
216-221, 223-225, 250-252,
chipping signal, 279
Half-dulpex transmission, 67,
256-258, 259, 256-258, 259, 485,
defined, 275
202-203
490-492, 496, 541-543, 807-808
frequency shift keying (FSK), using,
Hamming distance, 197
acknowledgement, 215
277-279
Handoff, 422, 528
anchor frame, video compression,
IEEE 802.11 physical layer, 543,
MTSO, 422
805
544-545
wireless LANs, 528
bursting, Gigabit Ethernet, 496
multiple phase shift keying (MFSK),
Handshake, 670-673, 730-732
check sequence (FCS) field, HDLC,
using, 279-282
connection establishment, 670-673
225
performance considerations, 282
Protocol, 730-732
collision, 485
pseudonoise (PN), 277
three-way procedure, 671-673
control, 542
Frequency modulation (FM), 171-174
Harmonics, defined, 836
damaged, 216, 219
Frequency shift keying (FSK), 139,
Hash functions, 716-720
data, 214-215, 542
152-154, 277-279, 279-282
one-way, 716-717
defined, 185
binary (BFSK), 152-154, 278
secure, 717-718, 720
error control, 216-221
defined, 139
Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA),
formats, TDM, 256-258, 259
digital data, analog signal encoding,
718-720
high-speed LANs, 490-492
152-154
HDLC, see High-level data link
IEEE 802.11 format, 541-543
FHSS using, 277-279, 279-282
control (HDLC)
IEEE 802.3 protocol, 490-492
full-duplex, 153
Headend, 264, 453
information (I-frames), 224
multiple (MFSK), 153-154, 279-282
cable, 264
lost, 216
signal encoding schemes, 152-154
tree topology, 453
MAC, 490-492, 541-543
Full-duplex transmission, 67, 153, 203
Header checksum, IP protocol, 579
management, 534
Fundamental frequency, 72
Header Error Control (HEC) field,
ordering, video compression,
ATM, 338, 339-340
807-808
Header fields, HTTP, 790-791,
SONET/SDH formats, 256-258
G
792-793, 794, 794-795
statistical TDM formats, 259
Gateway, HTTP, 788
entities, 794-795
structure, HDLC, 223-225
General query, IGMP, 611
general messages, 790-791
supervisory (S-frames), 224
Generic Flow Control (GFC), ATM
request messages, 792-793
synchronization, 208
cells, 336, 338-339
response messages, 794
TDM, 250-252
GFR, see Guaranteed frame rate
Header section, DNS messages,
unnumbered (U-frames), 224
(GFR)
782-784
window of, 213
Gigabit Ethernet, 483, 495-497
Headers, 223, 336-338, 583, 590-592,
Framing, 184, 251-252
carrier extension, 495
593-595, 676-679, 818-819,
error, asynchronous transmission,
frame bursting, 496
819-820, 824-826
184
media access layer, 495-496
fixed, RTP, 824-826
link control, TDM, 251-252
physical layer, 496-497
ATM format, 336-338
Free space loss, 129-132
Global applicability, addressing, 563
flow label, 591-592
Frequency, 67, 68-69, 70-72, 77, 105,
Global nonambiguity, addressing, 563
HDLC, 223
116, 117, 126, 416-417, 427, 430,
Global Positioning System (GPS),
ICMP, 583
836
122-123
IPv6, 590-592, 593-595
borrowing, 417
Go-back-N ARQ, 217-221, 238
request messages, SIP, 818-819
center, 77
Goodbye (BYE), RTCP, 828, 831
response messages, SIP, 819-820
dc component, 72
Graceful degradation, CDMA, 430
TCP, 676-679
defined, 68-69
Ground wave propagation, 125, 127
High data rate digital subscriber line
diversity, 427, 430
Group Address, IGMP, 611
(HDSL), 268-269
domain, 67, 70-72
Group-and-source-specific query, 611
High-density bipolar-3 zeros (HDB3),
fiber optic transmission, of, 116
Group record, IGMP, 612, 613
150-151
866
INDEX
High-level data link control (HDLC),
recommended reading and Web site,
Impulse noise, 90-91
222-228
795-796
Independent basic services set (IBSS),
address field, 224
tunnel, 788
802.11 model, 532
asynchronous balanced mode
use of, 700, 744, 784
Index of refraction, 128
(ABM), 222
user agent, 786
Indication primitive, 47
asynchronous response mode
Inelastic traffic, 51-52, 628
(ARM), 222
delay, 52, 628
basic characteristics of, 222
I
ISA, 628
commands and responses, 225
ICMP, see Internet Control Message
jitter, 628
control field, 224
Protocol (ICMP)
multimedia, 51-52
data transfer, 226
Identification, IP protocol, 577
packet loss, 52, 628
data transparency, 224
Identification field, IP protocol, 578
throughput, 51, 628
disconnect (DISC), 226
Identification function, RTCP, 826
Information field, HDLC, 224-225
flag fields, 223-224
Identifier restriction, VPC, 334
Information frames (I-frames), 224
frame check sequence (FCS) field,
Idle code, NRZI encoding, 510
Information security, 702-703
225
Idle state, defined, 183
Infrared, 117, 125, 544, 545
frame structure, 223-225
IEEE 802, 457-460
frequency range, 125
header, 223
LAN reference model, 457-460
IEEE 802.11 physical layer, 544, 545
information field, 224-225
logical link control (LLC) layer,
pulse position modulation (PPM), 545
information frames (I-frames), 224
458-460
wireless transmission, 125
initialization, 226
medium access control (MAC),
Infrared (IR) LANs, 528-530
normal response mode (NRM), 222
458-460
defined, 528
operation, 225-228
physical layer, 457
diffused configuration, 530
supervisory frames (S-frames), 224
IEEE 802.11, 523, 531-535, 535-543,
directed-beam, 529
trailer, 223
543-549, 549-550
omnidirectional configuration, 529
unnumbered frames (U-frames),
access and privacy services, 550
strength and weaknesses of, 529
224
access point (AP), 532
transmission techniques, 529-530
High-speed LANs, 14-15, 445, 450,
architecture, 531-533
Institute of Electrical and Electronics
482-521. See also Wireless
association-related services, 535
Engineers (IEEE), 7, 457-460
LANs
authentication, 550
802 reference model, 457-460
centralized server farms, 484
basic services set (BSS), 532
introduction to, 7
CSMA/CD model, 517-518
deauthentication, 550
Integrated Services Architecture
digital signal encoding, 508-514
distribution system (DS), 532,
(ISA), 604, 625-636
emergence of, 14-15, 483-485
534-535
approach of, 628-629
Ethernets, 483, 485-500
extended service set (ESS), 533
classifier and route selection, pack-
Fibre Channel, 483, 500-504
IEEE 802.11a, 543, 545-547
ets, 630-631
IEEE 802.3, 485-495
IEEE 802.11b, 547-548
components of, 629-631
introduction to, 445, 483
IEEE 802.11g, 548-549
controlled load service, 633
local backbone, 15, 485
independent basic services set
elastic traffic, 625-628
medium access control (MAC),
(IBSS), 532
first-in-first-out queuing (FIFO),
485-492
MAC frame, 541-543
633-634
office networks, 450
MAC service data units (MSDU)
functions, 629
performance issues, 514-518
delivery, 534-535
guaranteed service, 632-633
power workgroups, 484
medium access control (MAC),
inelastic traffic, 628
propagation delay, 514-517
534-535, 535-543
Internet traffic, 625-628
recommended reading and Web
physical layer, 543-549
ITEF development of, 625
sites, 504-506
portal, 532
packet discard, 629
scrambling, 518-521
privacy, 550
packet scheduler, 631
transmission rate, 514-517
reliable data delivery, 536
QoS transport, 625, 628-629
wireless, 483
security considerations, 549-550
queuing discipline, 633-636
High-speed local backbone, 15, 485
services, 533-535
Resource ReSerVation Protocol
Hop-by-Hop Options header, IPv6,
Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), 550
(RSVP), 604, 635-636
588, 593-594
Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) al-
routing algorithm, 629
Hop Limit field, IPv6, 590
gorithm, 550
services of, 631-633
Host, network service, 25, 658
Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) Alliance,
traffic specification (Tspec), 631-632
Host-to-host layer, TCP/IP, 35-36
532
use of, 604
HTTP, see Hypertext Transfer Protocol
IEEE 802.3, 485-495
weighted fair queuing (WFQ), 634
(HTTP)
Ethernet specifications, 485-495
Integration, 22, 86
Hubs, 447, 454, 473-475
full duplex operation, 494-495
analog and digital data, 86
header (HHUB), 473-474
MAC frame for, 490-492
defined, 22
intermediate (IHUB), 473-474
medium access control (MAC),
Integrity, defined, 703
star topology, 454
485-492
Interface, defined, 17
switches and, 474-475
mixed configurations, 495
Interference, 87, 104, 132-133
Huffman coding, video compression,
100BASE-T4, 494
intersymbol, 87
804
100BASE-X, 494
multipath, wireless transmission,
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP),
100-Mbps specifications, 493
132-133
700, 774, 784-798
10-Mbps specifications, 492-493
transmission media and, 104
cache, 788
IFS, see Interframe space (IFS)
Interframe space (IFS), 537-540
entities, 794-795
IGMP, see Internet Group
CSMA, rules for access, 537-538
gateway, 788
Management Protocol (IGMP)
DCF delay, 537
key terms for, 785
Image, media type, 50
distributed coordination function
messages, 788-794
Image type, MIME, 756
(DIFS), 539
origin server, 786
Implicit congestion signaling, 385, 389
point coordination function (PIFS),
overview of, 784-788
congestion recovery, 389
539
proxy, 787
technique, 385
short (PIFS), 539
INDEX
867
Interior router protocol (IRP),
redirect, 584
Open Shortest Path First (OSPF)
615-616
source quench, 584
Protocol, 623-625, 626, 627
Interlacing, bandwidth technique, 79
time exceeded, 583
queuing, 633-636, 640-641
Intermediate system (IS), 566-567
timestamp/timestamp reply, 585
recommended reading and Web
Intermodulation noise, 90
Internet directory service, see Domain
sites, 649-651
International Organization for
Name System (DNS)
routing protocol, 604, 614-625, 626,
Standardization, see ISO
Internet Engineering Task Force
627
International Reference Alphabet
(IETF), 7, 39, 625, 646-649
RSVP, 604
(IRA), 79-80
introduction to, 7
service level agreements (SLA),
International Telecommunications
IP Performance Metrics (IPPM)
645-646
Union (ITU), 8, 255
Working Group, 646-649
Internetworking, principles of, 566-569
introduction to, 8
IPv6, development of, 39
bridge, 567
Telecommunication Standardization
ISA development, 625
connectionless operation, 568-569
Sector (ITU-T), 8, 255
Internet Group Management Protocol
end system (ES), 566
Internet, 25-29, 554-555, 556-602,
(IGMP), 610-614
intermediate system (IS), 566-567
603-654, 699-833
general query, 611
requirements of, 567-568
applications, 699-833
group-and-source-specific query, 611
router, 567
architecture, 25-29
group record, 612, 613
terms for, 566
central office (CO), 27, 28
group-specific query, 611
Interpolation, video compression,
customer premises equipment
IPv6, group membership with, 614
806-807
(CPE), 26-27, 28
Membership Query message,
Intersymbol interference (ISI), 87,
defined, 566
611-613
425-426
Differentiated Services (DS) archi-
Membership Report message, 612,
IP, see Internet Protocol (IP)
tecture, 604, 636-645
613
IP address, defined, 25
hosts, 25
message format, 611-613
IP security (IPSec), 596-599, 732-736
Integrated Services Architecture
operations, 613-614
applications of, 596-597, 598,
(ISA), 604, 625-636
use of, 610-611
732-733
internetwork operation, 603-654
Internet Header Length (IHL), IP
authentication header (AH), 599,
IP address, 25
protocol, 578
734-736
IP datagrams (packets), 25
Internet Protocol (IP), 35, 39-40,
benefits of, 597
IPv6, 586-595
554-555, 556-602
Computer Emergency Response
key elements of, 25
Address Resolution Protocol
Team (CERT) Coordination
network access point (NAP), 28-29
(ARP), 585-586
Center (CERT/CC), 732
network service provider (NSP),
addresses, 579-582
Encapsulating Security Payload
28-29
base functions, 558-565
(ESP), 599, 736
origins of, 25
connectionless internetworking,
functions, 599
point of presence (POP), 26, 27-28
570-571
Internet Architecture Board (IAB),
protocols, 554-555, 556-602
data unit identifier (ID), 574
596, 732
routers, 25
datagram lifetime, 573
key exchange, 599
security (IPSec), 596-599, 732-736
design issues, 572-576
parameters, 733-734
service provider (ISP), 26, 27-28
error control, 576
protocol, 596-599
traffic, 625-628
fields, 577-579
scope of, 733
virtual private networks (VPN),
fragmentation and reassembly,
security association (SA), 733-734
596-599
573-576
security parameters index (SPI), 733
Internet Applications, 699-700,
headers, 39-40
IPv4 security, 732-736
701-742, 743-772, 773-798,
Internet Control Message Protocol
IPv6, 39-40, 557, 586-595, 732-736
799-833
(ICMP), 582-585
addresses, 592-593
Domain Name System (DNS), 700,
internetworking, principles of,
Authentication header, 588
774-784
566-569
Destination Options header, 588,
electronic mail, 699, 744-760
introduction to, 554-555, 557
595
Hypertext Transfer Protocol
IPv6, 39-40, 586-595
Encapsulating Security Payload
(HTTP), 700, 774, 784-798
layer, 35
header, 588
Internet directory service, 700,
next-generation, 557, 586-588
flow label, 590, 591-592
774-784
operation, 569-576
Fragment header, 588, 594-595
multimedia, 700, 799-833
recommended reading and Web
headers, 590-592, 593-595
Multi-Purpose Internet Mail
sites, 599-600
Hop-by-Hop Options header, 588,
Extension Protocol (MIME),
routing, 573
593-594
744, 752-760
security (IPSec), 596-599
IETF development of, 39
network management, 699, 744,
service primitives, 576-577
Internet protocol and, 39-40
760-772
virtual private networks (VPN),
next generation IP, 557, 586-588
network security, 699, 701-742
596-599
Routing header, 588, 595
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
Internet Society (ISOC), 7
security, 732-736
(SMTP), 41, 48, 744, 745-752
Internetwork operation, 554-555,
structure of, 588-589
Simple Network Management
603-654
IS-95 CDMA scheme, 432-436
Protocol (SNMP), 744, 760-770
autonomous system (AS), 614-616,
forward link, 432-434
Web access, 700, 774, 784-798
623-625
reverse link, 435-436
Internet Architecture Board (IAB), 7,
Border Gateway Protocol (BGP),
ISO, 8, 42
596, 732
618-623
introduction to, 8
Internet Control Message Protocol
Differentiated Services (DS) archi-
OSI model, development of, 42
(ICMP), 582-585
tecture, 604, 636-645
Isotropic antenna, 117
address mask request/reply, 585
Integrated Services Architecture
Iterative technique, DNS name
destination unreachable, 584
(ISA), 604, 625-636
resolution, 782
echo/echo reply, 584-585
introduction to, 554-555, 604-605
ITU, see International
headers, 583
IP performance metrics, 646-649
Telecommunications Union
parameter problem, 584
multicasting, 604, 605-614
(ITU)
868
INDEX
ITU Telecommunication
IEEE 802 reference model,
Media gateway controller (MGC),
Standardization Sector (ITU-
457-460
308-309
T), 8, 255
infrared (IR), 528-530
Medium access control (MAC),
signal designations, SDH, 255
introduction to, 444, 447
458-460, 463-465, 534-535,
use of, 8
logical link control (LLC), 458-460,
535-543
460-463
contention, 464
medium access control (MAC),
distributed coordination function
J
458-460, 463-465, 535-543
(DCF), 536, 537-540
Jacobson’s algorithm, 686-688
overview of, 444, 446-481
distributed foundation wireless
Jitter, 628, 646, 809-810
performance issues, 514-518
(DFWMAC), 536
delay, 809-810
personal computer, 448
frame, 460, 464-465, 541-543
inelastic traffic, 628
propagation delay, 514-517
IEEE 802 reference model layer,
network, 646
protocol architecture, 457-465
458-460
recommended reading and Web site,
IEEE 802.11 reference model,
478-479
534-535, 535-543
K
ring topology, 447, 453, 455
interframe space (IFS), 537-540
Karn’s algorithm, 689-690
scrambling, 518-521
point coordination function (PCF),
Keepalive timer, 674
spread spectrum, 528, 530
536, 539, 540-541
Key distribution, 711-713
star topology, 447, 454
reliable data delivery, 536
center, 713
storage area network (SAN), 449
reservation, 464
permanent key, 713
switches, 447, 473-478
round robin, 464
security service module (SSM), 713
topologies, 451-456
service data units (MSDU) delivery,
session key, 712
transmission media, 451, 455-457
534-535
Key exchange, IPSec, 599
transmission rate, 514-517
Membership Query message, IGMP,
Key management, 726-727
tree topology, 447, 451-453
611-613
trends of, 12
Membership Report message, IGMP,
use of, 22, 24, 444-445
612, 613
L
wireless, 445, 483, 522-553
Message authentication, 713-720, 729
LAN, see Local area network (LAN)
Local loop, defined, 27
approaches to, 714-717
Large-scale integration (LSI), 7, 86
Local_Pref, 620
code (MAC), 715-716
Latency/speed effects, traffic control,
Logical connections, ATM, 331-335
encryption, without, 714
395
control signaling, 335
one-way hash function, 716-717
Least-cost algorithms, 367-372
virtual channel connection (VCC),
Secure Hash Algorithm, 718-720
Bellman-Ford, 370-371, 371-372
331, 333-335
secure hash functions, 717-718, 720
comparison of, 371-372
virtual path connection (VPC),
SSL Record Protocol, 729
Dijkstra’s, 368-370, 371-372
331-333, 334-335
symmetric encryption, using, 714
License-free operation, wireless LANs,
Logical link control (LLC), 458-460,
Message type, MIME, 755-756
528
460-463
Messages, 18, 534-535, 582-585,
Line configurations, 201-203
acknowledged connectionless ser-
611-613, 619-621, 704, 782-784,
full-duplex transmission, 203
vice, 460, 461
788-794, 817-820
half-duplex transmission, 202-203
connection-mode service, 460, 461
additional records section, DNS,
topology, 201-202
IEEE 802 reference model layer,
783, 784
Line-of-sight (LOS), 125-129, 129-133
458-460
answer section, DNS, 783, 784
atmospheric absorption, 132
protocol, 461-463
authority section, DNS, 783, 784
effective, 127
protocol data unit (PDU), 460
Backus-Naur Form (BNF), 788-790
free space loss, 129-132
services, 460-461
distribution of within a distribution
impairments, 129-133
unacknowledged connectionless ser-
system (DS), 534-535
multipath interference, 132-133
vice, 460-461
Domain Name System (DNS),
optical, 128-129
LOS, see Line-of-sight (LOS)
782-784
propagation, 125-129
Lossless compression, 801
formatting, 18
radio, 128-129
Lossy compression, 801
header fields, 790-791, 792-793, 794,
refraction, 128, 133
Lost frame, 216
818-819, 819-820
transmission, 129-133
header section, DNS, 782-784
Link Access Protocol-Balanced
Hypertext Transfer Protocol
(LAPB), 318-319
M
(HTTP), 788-794
Link control, 250-253
MAC, see Medium access control
IGMP format, 611-613
framing, 251-252
(MAC)
integrity with privacy, WPA, 739
pulse stuffing, 252-253
MAIL command, SMTP, 750
Internet Control Message Protocol
TDM, 250-253
Management agent, 630, 761-762
(ICMP), 582-585
Link management, defined, 209
ISA, 630
Membership Query, IGMP, 611-613
Link-state routing, 616-617
SNMP, 761-762
Membership Report, IGMP, 612, 613
LLC, see Logical link control (LLC)
Management frames, IEEE 802.11
methods, 791-792, 817-818
Local area network (LAN), 12, 14-15,
MAC, 543
modification of , 704
22, 444-445, 446-481, 482-521,
Management information base (MIB),
Notification, BGP, 621
522-553
762, 765, 767
question section, DNS, 783, 784
backbone, 15, 450-451, 485, 527-528
Management plane, ATM, 330
request, 791-793, 817-819
backend networks, 448-449
Management station, SNMP, 761
response, 793-794, 819-820
background of, 448-451
Manchester code, 147
Session Initiation Protocol (SIP),
bridges, 465-473
Marker, DS traffic conditioning
817-820
bus topology, 447, 451-453, 454
function, 642-643
status codes, HTTP, 793
digital signal encoding, 508-514
Masquerade, network attack, 704
Meter, DS traffic conditioning
extension, 524-525
Max Response Code, IGMP, 611
function, 642-643
frame transmission, 453-455
Media access layer, Gigabit Ethernet,
MFSK, see Multiple frequency shift
high-speed, 14-15, 445, 450, 482-521
495-496
keying (MFSK)
hubs, 447, 454, 473-474
Media gateway (MG), 308-309
Microcells, defined, 418
INDEX
869
Microwave systems, 117, 119-124,
MPDU field, IEEE 802.11b, 548
orthogonal frequency division
125-129, 132-133
Multi_Exit_Disc attribute, BGP, 620,
(OFDM), 545
antenna, 119-120
622
protocol function, 564-565
applications of, 119, 122-123
Multicast Address, IGMP, 613
recommended reading and Web
direct broadcast satellite (DBS), 122
Multicast addressing, 564, 593, 605
sites, 269-270
frequency range, 117
Multicast transmission, RSVP, 635, 636
single line digital subscriber line
Global Positioning System (GPS),
Multicasting, 604, 605-614
(SDSL), 269
122-123
applications of, 605
statistical time division, 240, 241,
line of sight (LOS), 125-129, 132-133
broadcast strategy, 606-607
258-265
multipath interference, 132-133
defined, 604
Synchronous Digital Hierarchy
satellite, 120-124
Internet Group Management
(SDH), 255-258
terrestrial, 119-120
Protocol (IGMP), 610-614
Synchronous Optical Network
transmission characteristics of, 120,
multicast strategy, 607-608
(SONET), 255-258
123-124
multiple unicast strategy, 607
synchronous time division, 240,
transponder channels, 121
requirements for, 608-610
248-258
very small aperture terminal (VST),
Multilevel binary encoding technique,
time division (TDM), 240, 241,
122
146-147
248-258, 258-265
MIME, see Multi-Purpose Internet Mail
bipolar-AMI scheme, 146
very high data rate digital subscriber
Extension Protocol (MIME)
digital data, digital signal encoding,
line (VDSL), 268-269
Mixer, RTP relay, 824
146-147
wavelength division (WDM),
MLT-3 encoding, 510-511
pseudoternary, 146
247-248
Mobile communication, 419-422,
Multilevel phase-shift keying (MPSK),
xDSL, 268-269
422-424, 424-427
157-158
Multipoint transmission medium, 67
environment, 424-427
Multimedia, 48-53, 700, 799-833
Multi-Purpose Internet Mail
fading, 422, 424-427
applications, 50-51
Extension Protocol (MIME),
intersymbol interference (ISI),
audio, 50, 801-802
744, 752-760
425-4626
communications/networking, 52
audio type, 757
mobile telecommunications switch-
compression, 52, 800-808
content types, 753-757
ing office (MTSO), 419-422
defined, 49
image type, 756
multipath propagation, 424-426
elastic traffic, 51-52
introduction to, 744, 752
radio propagation effects, 422-424
image, 50
message type, 755-756
signal strength, 422
inelastic traffic, 51-52
multipart type, 753, 755
Mobile telecommunications switching
Internet applications, 700, 799-833
overview of, 753
office (MTSO), 419-422
introduction to, 48-49
text type, 753
call functions, 421-422
media types, 49-50
transfer encodings, 757-760
handoff, 422
protocols, 52
video type, 756
mobile unit initialization, 420
quality of service (QoS), 52-53
Multirate, 3G cellular systems, 439-440
mobile-originated call, 420
real-time traffic, 808-811
paging, 421
Real-Time Transport Protocol
remote mobile subscriber, calls
(RTP), 800, 820-831
N
to/from, 422
recommended reading and Web
Near-far problems, CDMA, 430
Modulation, 139-140, 141, 148-149,
sites, 831-832
Neighbor acquisition, BGP, 618
162-165, 165-167, 169-171,
Session Description Protocol (SDP),
Neighbor reachability, BGP, 618
171-174, 545-546, 547-548
811, 820
Network access layer, TCP/IP, 35
amplitude (AM), 169-171
Session Initiation Protocol (SIP),
Network access point (NAP), defined,
angle, 171-174
800, 811-820
28-29
baseband signal, 140
technologies, 52-53
Network classes, IP addresses, 579-580
carrier signal, 139
text, 49-50
Network interface, circuit switching,
complementary code keying (CCK),
use of, 700, 800
305
547-548
video, 50, 803-808
Network jitter, 646
defined, 139-140
voice over IP (VoIP), 811
Network Layer Reachability
delta (DM), 165-167
Multipart type, MIME, 753, 755
Information (NLRI) field, BGP,
frequency (FM), 171-174
Multipath interference, 132-133
620, 622
IEEE 802.11a, 545-546
Multipath resistance, CDMA, 430
Network management, see Simple
IEEE 802.11b, 547-548
Multiple frequency shift keying
Network Management Protocol
packet binary convolution coding
(MFSK), 153-154, 279-282
(SNMP)
(PBCC), 548
FHSS using, 279-282
Network reachability, BGP, 619
phase (PM), 171-174
signal encoding scheme, 153-154
Network response, frame relays, 393
pulse amplitude (PAM), 163-164
Multiplexing, 239-273, 276, 287-290,
Network security, 699, 701-742
pulse code (PCM), 162-165 , 254
545, 564-565, 658-659
active attacks, 702, 704-705
pulse position (PPM), 545
asymmetrical digital subscriber line
Advanced Encryption Standard
quadrature amplitude (QAM), 161
(ADSL), 265-268
(AES), 707-710
quantizing noise, 163-164
code division (CMA), 276
confidentiality, 703, 705-713
rate, 141, 148-149
code division multiple access
Data Encryption Standard (DEA),
Modulo 2 arithmetic, 189-192
(CDMA), 276, 287-290
707
More Flag, IP fragmentation and
defined, 240
defined, 703
reassembly, 574, 575
dense wavelength division
digital signatures, 722-723
Motion compensation, video
(DWDM), 247-248
hash functions, 716-720
compression, 805
discrete multitone (DMT), 267-268
introduction to, 699, 7102-703
Moving Pictures Experts Group
frequency division (FDM), 240, 241,
IP (IPSec), 732-736
(MPEG), 801, 803-805
242-248
message authentication, 713-720
multimedia compression standards,
high data rate digital subscriber line
passive attacks, 702, 704
801
(HDSL), 268-269
public-key encryption, 702, 720-727
video compression algorithm,
introduction to, 240-241
recommended reading and Web
803-805
network service, 658-659
sites, 739-740
870
INDEX
Network security (cont.)
Noise, 89-91, 92, 93-94, 144, 163-164
total internal reflection, 114
requirements, 703
channel capacity, 92, 93-94
transmission characteristics of,
RSA algorithm, 723-726
crosstalk, 90
114-116
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL),
immunity, 144
Option data, IP protocol, 577
727-732
impulse, 90-91
Options field, 579, 679
symmetric encryption, 702, 705-713,
intermodulation, 90
IP protocol, 579
714
quantizing, 163-164
TCP, 679
Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), 550,
Shannon capacity formula, 93-94
Ordered delivery, 561, 666
737-739
signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), 93-94
Origin attribute, BGP, 620
Network service, 28-29, 45, 657-674
thermal, 89
Origin server, HTTP, 786
access point (NSAP), 45
transmission impairment, 89-91
Orthogonal frequency division
addressing, 657-658
white, 89
multiplexing (OFDM), 545
connection establishment, 663
Nomadic access, wireless LANs,
Orthogonal property, CDMA, 288
connection termination, 663,
525-526
OSI, see Open Systems
673-674
Nonconfirmed service, defined, 48
Interconnection (OSI) model
duplicate detection, 667-668
Nonpersistent CSMA algorithm, 486
OSPF, see Open Shortest Path First
failure recovery, 674
Non-real-time service, 345, 346-348
(OSPF) Protocol
flow control, 659-663, 668-673
Non-real-time variable bit rate (nrt-
multiplexing, 658-659
VBR), 345, 346
ordered delivery, 666
Nonreturn to Zero (NRZ), 144-145,
P
provider (NSP), 28-29
508-510
p-persistent protocol, CSMA, 487-488
reliable sequencing, 657-665
coding scheme, 508
Packet discard, ISA, 629
retransmission strategy, 666-667
conversion, NRZI to NRZ, 510
Packet loss, inelastic traffic, 52, 628
unreliable, 665-674
differential encoding, 144-145
Packet switching, 23, 295, 298, 309-317,
Networking, 12-16, 29-31, 526
digital signal encoding, 144-145,
317-319, 319-323, 352-362,
ad hoc, 526
508-510
362-367, 367-372, 387-388
capacity requirements, 14
4B/5B code, 508-510
ARAPNET, 362-367
configuration, example of, 29-31
high-speed LANs, 508-510
circuit switching, comparison to,
corporate wide area networking
Nonreturn to Zero Invert (NRZI),
315-317
(WAN), 15
144, 508-509
congestion control, 387-388
data communications and, 12-16
Nonreturn to Zero-Level (NRZL), 144
datagram approach, 310, 311
digital electronics, 15-16
Normal response mode (NRM), 222
defined, 298
high-speed LANs, emergence of,
Notification Message, BGP, 621
networks, 23, 352-362, 362-367,
14-15
Nyquist bandwidth, 92-93
367-372, 387-388
services, 12-13
node delay, 315-316
trends, 12-13
packet size, 313-315
Networks, 14-15, 22-24, 25, 295-443,
O
principles of, 309-317
444-553, 596-599
Offset, IP fragmentation and
propagation delay, 315-316
ARAPNET, 362-367
reassembly, 574, 575
routing, 352-362, 362-367, 367-372
asynchronous transfer mode (ATM),
1-persitent protocol, CSMA, 487
switching technique, 310313
23-24, 296, 328-350
Open Shortest Path First (OSPF)
transmission time, 315-316
cellular wireless, 296, 413-443
Protocol, 623-625, 626, 627
use of, 23, 295, 298
circuit switching, 23, 295, 301-304
autonomous system (AS), 623-625
virtual circuit approach, 310, 321-313
congestion control, 296, 377-412
directed graph, 632, 625
X.25 interfacing standard, 317-319
data, 377-412
internetwork routing, 623-625, 626,
Packets, 25, 57-59, 313-315, 384-385,
frame relay, 23, 319-323
627
630-631, 810, 827-831. See also
high-speed LANs, 14-15, 445,
Open Systems Interconnection (OSI)
Datagrams
482-521
model, 42-44, 44-48
application-defined, 828, 831
integration, 22
addressing, 45
choke, 384-385
Internet connection, 25
confirm primitive, 47
classifier and route selection, ISA,
introduction to, 22
confirmed service, 48
630-631
local area (LAN), 22, 24,
indication primitive, 47
continuous data source, 811
444-553
introduction to, 42-44
Goodbye (BYE), 828, 831
packet switching, 23, 295, 298,
network service access point
IP datagrams, 25
309-323, 352-372
(NSAP), 45
ISA forwarding functions, 630-631
routing, 296, 351-376
nonconfirmed service, 48
on/off source, 810
switched, 297-327, 351-376
parameters, 46-48
packet scheduler, ISA, 631
virtual private (VPN), 596-599
primitives, 46-48
real-time traffic, 811
wide area (WAN), 22-23,
protocol specifications, 45
Receiver Report (RR), 828, 830
295-443
request primitive, 47
RTP Control Protocol (RTCP),
wireless, 24, 296, 413-443, 445,
response primitive, 47
827-831
522-553
service access point (SAP), 45
Sender Report (SR), 827-830
Next generation IP, motivation and
service definitions, 45
size of, 313-315, 810
details of, 557, 586-588
standardization within, 44-48
Source Description (SDES), 828,
Next Header field, IPv6, 590
Optical fiber, 20, 112-116, 456
830
Next_Hop attribute, BGP, 620, 621,
applications of, 113-114
TFTP, 57-59
622
cladding, 113
Pad, IEEE 802.3, 492
Nodes, 299, 300, 315-316, 502, 527
core, 113
Padding, 579, 713, 824
defined, 299
description of, 112-113
IP protocol, 579
delay, circuit and packet switching,
fiber optic transmission, 20
RTP header, 824
315-316
graded-index multimode, 115
traffic, 713
Fibre Channel network, 502
jacket, 113
Paging, cellular systems, 421, 433
switched communication network,
LAN topology, 456
Parabolic reflective antenna, 117-118
300
single-mode, 115
Parameter problem message, ICMP,
wireless LAN requirements, 527
step-index multimode, 114-115
584
INDEX
871
Parameters header, ICMP, 583
IEEE 802.11, 543-549
Alert, SSL, 730
Parity check, 188-189
IEEE 802.11a, 543, 545-547
architecture, 32-61, 321-322,
Passive attacks, 702, 704. See also
IEEE 802.11b, 547-548
329-330, 457-465, 503,
Encryption
IEEE 802.11g, 548-549
821-822
Path Attributes field, BGP, 620-621
infrared, 544, 545
ATM, 329-330
Path-vector routing, 617-618
modulation, 545-546, 547
basic functions of, 558-566
Payload, 337, 590, 825-826
orthogonal frequency division multi-
Border Gateway (BGP), 618-623
ATM, Type (PT) field, 337
plexing (OFDM), 545
Change Cipher Spec, SSL, 730
length field, IPv6, 590
packet binary convolution coding
connection control, 559-561
RTP, Type, 825-826
(PBCC), 548
control, PDU information, 558
PCF, see Point coordination function
PLCP Preamble field, 546, 548
control plane, 321
(PCF)
pulse position modulation (PPM),
CSMA, 487-488
PCM, see Pulse code modulation
545
data link control, 207-238
(PCM)
SDH-based, ATM, 343-345
data transfer, RTP, 822-825
PDU, see Protocol data unit
TCP/IP, 35
data units (PDU),460, 558, 768-769
Peak amplitude, 68
Universal Networking Information
defined, 34
Peak cell rate (PCR), 402-403
Infrastructure (UNNI), 545
encapsulation, 558
Peer layers, protocol, 34
Piggybacking, 214
error control, 216-221, 561-562
Performance metrics, 646-649
Pilot channels, 433
exterior router (ERP), 616
active techniques, 647
Plaintext, defined, 705
Fibre Channel, 503
IP Performance Metrics (IPPM)
PLCP header, IEEE 802.11b, 548
File Transfer (FTP), 41
Working Group, 646-649
PLCP Preamble field, IEEE 802.11a
flow control, 209-216, 561
passive techniques, 647
and b, 546, 548
fragmentation, 558-559
types of, 647
Point coordination function (PCF),
frame relay, 321-322
Per-hop behavior (PHB), 642-645
536, 539, 540-541
Handshake, SSL, 730-732
assured forwarding (AF), 644-645
DCF access, 540-541
high-level data link control
defined, 642
interframe space (PIFS), 539
(HDLC), 222-228
expedited forwarding (EF), 643-644
Mac algorithm, 536
Hypertext Transfer (HTTP), 700,
traffic conditioning functions,
Point of presence (POP), defined, 26,
774, 784-798
642-643
27-28
IEEE 802 refiner model, 457-460
Period, defined, 69
Point-to-point transmission medium, 67,
interfaces, 41-42
Periodic signal, 68, 836-837, 838
104, 106
interior router (IRP), 615-616
dc component, 836
Polar signaling, 141
Internet (IP), 35, 554-555, 556-602
defined, 68
Policing, 405, 407
Internet-based applications, 48
Fourier series representation of,
GFR, 407
Internet Control Message (ICMP),
836-837, 838
traffic, 405
582-585
fundamental frequency, 836
Poll response, IEEE 802.11 MAC, 540
internetwork operation, 554-555,
harmonics, 836
Polynomial division, 192-193
603-654
Permanent key, defined, 713
Port, 37, 658, 676
internetworking, principles of,
Persist timer, flow control, 669
destination, 37, 676
566-569
Personal communication networks
network service, 658
introduction to, 33, 208-209
(PCNs), 437
TCP addresses, 37, 676
LAN, 457-465
Personal communication services
Portal, 802.11 model, 532
logical link control (LLC), 458,
(PCSs), 437
Postamble bit pattern, 185
460-463
Personal computer, LANs, 448
Power Save-Poll PS-Poll)), IEEE
medium access control (MAC), 458,
Phase, defined, 69
802.11 MAC, 542
463-465
Phase modulation (PM), 171-174
Power spectral density (PSD), 837,
multimedia, 52
Phase shift keying (PSK), 139,
839-840
multiplexing, 564-565
154-158, 277-278, 282-284
Power workgroups, 15
Multi-Purpose Internet Mail
binary (BPSK), 277-278, 282-284
Preamble, IEEE 802.3, 490
Extension (MIME), 744,
defined, 139
Preamble bit pattern, 185
752-760
digital data, analog signal encoding,
Prediction, video compression,
need for, 33-34
154-158
805-806
1-persistent, 487
DSSS using, 282-284
Primary station, HDLQ, 222
Open Shortest Path First (OSPF),
FHSS using, 277-278
Priority, protocol transmission service,
623-625, 626, 627
four-level, 155-157
565
Open Systems Interconnection
multilevel (MPSK), 157-158
Privacy, 86, 430, 550
(OSI) model, 42-44, 44-48
signal encoding schemes, 154-158
CDMA, 430
ordered delivery, 561
two-level (binary), 154-155
digital transmission, 86
peer layers, 34
PHB, see Per-hop behavior (PHB)
IEEE 802.11, 550
p-persistent protocol, 487-488
Physical layer, 35, 340-343, 343-345,
Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) al-
Real-Time Transport (RTP), 800,
457, 496-497, 543-549
gorithm, 550
820-831
cell-based, ATM, 340-343
Private branch exchange (PBX), 305
recommended reading and Web site,
channel structure, IEEE 802.11a,
Propagation delay, 315-316, 514-517
53-54
545
circuit and packet switching,
Record, SSL 728-730
coding, IEEE 802.11a, 545-546
315-316
routing, 604, 614-625, 626
complementary code keying (CCK),
high-speed LANs, 514-517
RTP Control Protocol (RTCP), 821,
547
Protocol, 32-61, 207-238, 321-322,
826-831
direct sequence spread spectrum
329-330, 457-465, 487-488, 503,
semantics, 34
(DSSS), 543, 544
554-555, 556-602, 603-654,
Session Description (SDP), 800, 811,
frame structure, 546, 548
655-698, 728-732, 744, 745-752,
820
frequency-hopping spread spectrum
752-760, 760-770, 774, 784-798,
Session Initiation (SIP), 800,
(FHSS), 543, 544-545
800, 811-820, 820-831
811-820
Gigabit Ethernet, 496-497
Address Resolution (ARP), 585-586
Simple Mail Transfer (SMTP), 41,
IEEE 802, 457
addressing, 562-564
48, 744, 745-752
872
INDEX
Protocol (cont.)
Querier’s robustness variable (QRV),
Reject (REJ), 218, 219, 226
Simple Network Management
IGMP, 611
damaged, 219
(SNMP), 744, 760-770
Question section, DNS messages, 783,
frame, HDLC, 226
SNMPv2 operation, 767-769
784
go-back-N technique, 218, 219
SSL, 728-732
Queuing, 629, 633-636, 640-641
Release of message contents, 704
standardization within, 44-48
congestion control, DS, 640-641
Remote mobile subscriber, calls
syntax, 34
DS discipline, 640
to/from, 422
TCP/IP, 34-42
first-in-first-out (FIFO), 633-634
Repeaters, ring topology, 453
timing, 34
ISA discipline, 629, 633-636
Replay, network attack, 704
Transmission Control (TCP), 36,
service, DS, 640
Replies, SMTP, 748-749
656, 647-693
weighted fair (WFQ), 634
Request messages, 791-793, 817-819
transmission services, 565
Quoted-printable transfer encoding,
headers,792-793, 818-819
transport, 556, 655-698
757-758
HTTP, 791-793
Trivial File Transfer (TFTP), 57-61
method, 719-792, 817-818
User Datagram (UDP), 38-39, 41,
SIP, 817-819
656, 693-694, 762-763
R
Request primitive, 47
user plane, 321-322
Radio, 117, 124, 125, 128-129, 129-133,
Request to Send (RTS), IEEE 802.11
Protocol data unit (PDU), 460, 558,
422-424
MAC, 542
768-769
applications of, 124
Reservation protocol, ISA, 630
encapsulation, 558
atmospheric absorption, 132
Reservations, 387, 464
logical link control (LLC), 460
broadcast, 124
congestion traffic management, 387
MPDU field, IEEE 802.11b, 548
frequency ranges, 117, 124
MAC traffic approach, 464
SNMPv2, 768-769
ground wave propagation, 125
Reserved header, TCP, 677
Proxy, HTTP, 787
line of sight (LOS), 125-129,
Resource management, 400-402
Pseudonoise (PN), 277
129-133
Resource records (RRs), DNS,
Pseudorandom numbers, 276
mobile propagation effects, 422-424
777-778
PSK, see Phase shift keying (PSK)
range, 117
Resource ReSerVation Protocol
Public-key encryption, 702, 720-727
refraction of waves, 133
(RSVP), 604, 635-636
certificate, 726-727
scattering, 132
characteristics of, 636
characteristics of, 722
sky wave propagation, 125
ISA functionality, 635-636
digital signatures, 722-723
transmission characteristics of, 124
multicast transmission, 635, 636
key management, 726-727
RAKE receiver, CDMA cellular
soft state, 636
requirements, 722
system, 431
unicast transmission, 635, 636
RSA algorithm, 723-726
Random access, video compression,
use of, 604
use of, 720-721
804
Response messages, 793-794, 817,
Public switched telephone network
Random routing, 359-360
819-820
(PSTN), 12
Rate guarantees, GFR, 406-407
code, SIP, 817
Public telecommunications network,
RCPT command, SMTP, 750
headers, 794, 819-820
302-303
Read request (RRQ) packet, 58
HTTP, 793-794
Pulse amplitude modulation (PAM),
Real-time service, 345-346
SIP, 819-820
164, 801
Real-time traffic, 808-811
status codes, HTTP, 793
Pulse code modulation (PCM),
applications, hard versus soft, 811
Response primitive, 47
162-165, 254, 801
characteristics of, 809-810
Retransmission timer management,
analog data, digital signal encoding,
delay jitter, 809-810
683-690
140, 162-168
requirements for, 810-811
exponential average, 684-686
audio compression, 801
Real-Time Transport Protocol (RTP),
exponential RTO backoff, 688-689
quantizing noise (error), 163-164
800, 820-831
Jacobson’s algorithm, 686-688
sampling theorem, 162
application-level framing, 821-822
Karn’s algorithm, 689-690
TDM digital carrier systems, 254
Control Protocol (RTCP), 821,
retransmission timer (RTO), 686
Pulse position modulation (PPM), 545
826-831
round-trip time (RTT), 684
Pulse stuffing, 252-253
data transfer protocol, 822-826
RTT variance estimation, 686-688
integrated layer processing, 822
simple average, 684
protocol architecture, 821-822
TCP congestion control, 683-690
Q
use of, 800, 820-821
Retransmission, 216, 666-667, 683-689
Quadrature amplitude modulation
Real-time variable bit rate (rt-VBR),
frames, 216
(QAM), 161, 267
345, 346
segments, 666-667
Quadrature phase-shift keying
Receive ready (RR), 218, 219, 226
TCP retransmission timer manage-
(QPSK), 155-157
acknowledgement, 218, 219
ment, 683-690
Quality of service (QoS), 12, 52-53, 334,
frame, HDLC, 226
timer (RTO), 667, 686
387, 406-408, 565, 625-629, 826
Receiver, 17, 104, 541, 747
unreliable network service, 666-667
congestion, traffic management, 387
address, IEEE 802.11 MAC, 541
Retransmit policy, TCP, 681-682
eligibility test, GFR, (408)
defined, 17
Retransmit-SYN timer, 670
Integrated Services Architecture
number of, 104
Reuse frequency, 416-417
(ISA), 625-636
SMTP, 747
Reverse control channels (RCCs),
multimedia, 52-53
Receiver Report (RR), RTCP, 828, 830
428-429
protocol transmission service, 565
Record Protocol, 728-730
RFC 822 format, SMTP, 751-752
RTP Control Protocol (RTCP), 826
Record Type field, IGMP
Ring topology, 447, 453, 455
transport, 628-629
Recursive technique, DNS name
Roaming, wireless LANs, 528
trend of, 12
resolution, 782
Root name servers, DNS, 781
VCC, 334
Redirect message, ICMP, 584
Round robin, MAC traffic approach,
VPC, 334
Reflection, mobile communication, 424
464
Quantization, video compression, 804
Refraction, 128, 133
Round-trip propagation time, traffic
Quantizing noise (error), 163-164
index of, 128
and congestion control, 399
Querier’s querier interval code
line-of-sight (LOS) and, 128, 133
Round-trip time (RTT), 684
(QQIC), IGMP, 611
radio waves, 133
Route recording, IP protocol, 577
INDEX
873
Routers, 25, 567
S
duplicate detection, 667-668
defined, 25
S Flag, IGMP, 611
failure recovery, 674
internetworking, 567
Sample metric, 647
flow control, 659-663, 668-673
Routing, 162, 296, 351-376, 468-471,
Sampling theorem, 162
IP datagram, 38
573, 577, 604, 614-625, 626, 627,
Satellite microwave, 120-124
ordered delivery, 666
629, 630
Scaling and color conversion, video
retransmission strategy, 666-667
adaptive, 360-362
compression, 803
sequence number, 37, 661
algorithms, 362-367, 367-372, 629
Scattering, 116, 132, 425
TCP, 37
approaches to, 616-618
fiber optic transmission, 116
unreliable network service, 665-674
ARAPNET, 362-367
mobile communication, 425
window, 661
bridges, LAN, 468-471
radio waves, 132
Selective cell discard, 405
characteristics of, 353-356
Scheduling, GFR, 407-408
Selective fading, 426
decision time and place, 355
Scrambling, 149-151, 510, 518-521
Selective-reject, 221, 226, 237
defined, 18
bipolar with 8-zeros substitution
ARQ, 221, 237
distance-vector, 616
(B8ZS), 150
frame, HDLC, 226
fixed, 356-357, 468-471
defined, 510
Self-jamming, CDMA, 430
flooding, 357-359
digital data, digital signal encoding,
Semantics, 34, 61
information update timing, 356
149-151
TCP/IP, 34
internetwork operation, 604,
high-density bipolar-3 zeros
TFTP, 61
614-625, 626, 627
(HDB3), 150-151
Semipermanent VCC and VPC, 334,
introduction to, 296, 352
high-speed LANs, 518-521
335
IP design, 573
SDH-based physical layer, ATM,
Send policy, TCP, 681
ISA functions, 629, 630
343-345
Sender, SMTP, 746-747
least-cost algorithms, 367-372
Secondary station, HDLQ, 222
Sender Report (SR), RTCP, 827-830
link-state, 616-617
Secret key, defined, 705
Sequence Control, IEEE 802.11 MAC,
network information source,
Secure Socket Layer (SSL), 727-732
541
355-356
Alert Protocol, 730
Sequence number, TCP, 37, 676, 679
packet-switching networks, 352-362,
architecture, 728
Server, SIP, 812
362-367, 367-372
Change Cipher Spec Protocol, 730
Server hierarchy, DNS, 779-782
path-vector, 617-618
Handshake Protocol, 730-732
root name servers, 781
performance criteria, 353-355
Record Protocol, 728-730
zone, 779-781
protocols, 604, 614-625, 626, 627, 630
Security, 18, 86, 528, 549-550, 565, 577,
Service access point (SAP), 45
random, 359-360
596-599, 699, 701-742. See also
Service level agreements (SLA),
recommended reading, 372-373
Network security
645-646
source, 470, 577
active attacks, 704-705
Service parameters, 46-48, 576-577,
spanning tree algorithm, 470
associations (SA), 733-734
677
strategies, 356-362
authentication, 550
IP, 576-577
Routing header, IPv6, 588, 595
authenticity, 703
OSI model, 46-48
Routing protocols, 604, 614-625, 626,
availability, 703
TCP, 677
627
computer, 703
Service primitives, 46-48, 576-577,
autonomous system (AS), 614-616,
confidentiality, 703
675-676
623-625
deauthentication, 550
IP, 576-577
Border Gateway Protocol (BGP),
defined, 18
request, TCP, 675
618-623
digital signatures, 722-723
response, TCP, 676
distance-vector routing, 616
digital transmission, 86
types of, OSI model, 46-48
exterior (ERP), 616
IEEE 802.11, 549-550
Service provider (ISP), defined, 26,
interior (IRP), 615-616
information, 702-703
27-28
link-state routing, 616-617
integrity, 703
Service set ID (SSID), IEEE 802.11
Open Shortest Path First (OSPF)
IP (IPSec), 596-599, 732-736
MAC, 541
Protocol, 623-625, 626, 627
IP protocol, 577
Services, 12-13, 345-348, 460-461, 532,
path-vector routing, 617-618
message authentication, 713-720
533-535, 550, 565, 576-577,
use of, 604, 614
network , 699, 701-742
631-633, 675-676
RSA public-key encryption algorithm,
passive attacks, 704
access and privacy, IEEE 802.11, 550
723-726
privacy, 550
acknowledged connectionless, 460,
RSVP, see Resource ReSerVation
protocol transmission service, 565
461
Protocol (RSVP)
public-key encryption, 720-727
association-related, 535
RTP Control Protocol (RTCP), 821,
RSA algorithm, 723-726
ATM, 345-348
826-831
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL),
available bit rate (ABR), 345, 347
application-defined packet, 828, 831
727-732
basic service set (BSS), 532
congestion control, RTCP
symmetric encryption, 705-713
best-effort, 347
Goodbye (BYE), 828, 831
transmission, 528
connection-mode, 460, 461
identification, 826
virtual private networks (VPN),
constant bit rate (CBR), 345, 346
packet types, 827-831
596-599
controlled load, ISA, 633
Quality of service (QoS), 826
Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), 550,
distribution system (DS), 532,
Receiver Report (RR), 828, 830
737-739
534-535
Sender Report (SR), 827-830
Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) al-
extended service set (ESS), 533
session control, 827
gorithm, 550
guaranteed, ISA, 632-633
session size, 826-827
WLANs, 549
guaranteed frame rate (GFR), 345,
Source Description (SDES), 828,
Segments, 37-38, 659-663, 665-674. See
348
830
also Network service
IEEE 802.11 model, 533-535, 550
RTP, see Real-Time Transport Protocol
acknowledgment number, 661
independent basic service set
(RTP)
checksum, 38
(IBSS), 532
RTT variance estimation, 686-688
connection establishment, 663
integration, 534-535
Run-length encoding, video
connection termination, 663,
Internet protocol (IP), 576-577
compression, 804
673-674
ISA, 631-633
874
INDEX
Services (cont.)
bandwidths, 837, 839-840
Single line digital subscriber line
LLC, 460-461
baseband, 140
(SDSL), 269
MAC service data units (MSDU)
carrier, 139
Singleton metric, 647
delivery, 534-535
chipping, 279
Sinusiod function, 69
message distribution using DS,
data, 78, 83-84
SIP, see Session Initiation Protocol
534-535
decibels and, 99-101
(SIP)
networking, 12-13
defined, 78
64B/66B encoding, 513-514
non-real-time, 345, 346-348
digital, 68, 80-86
Sky wave propagation, 125, 127
range of, 12-13
digital transmission, 85-86
Sliding-window flow control, 212-216,
real-time, 345-346
fading, 422, 424-427
234-236
TCP, 675-676
Fourier series representation of,
data link control protocol, 212-216
traffic specification (Tspec), ISA,
836-837, 838
performance issues, 234-236
631-632
Fourier transform representation of,
Slow fading, 426
transmission, protocol, 565
837, 839-840
Slow start, TCP congestion control,
unacknowledged connectionless,
frequency, 68-69, 836
690-691
460-461
frequency domain, 67, 70-72
SMTP, see Simple Mail Transfer
unspecified bit rate (UBR), 345, 347
generation, 17
Protocol (SMTP)
variable bit rates (VBRs), 345, 346
hierarchy, SONET/SDH, 255
SNMP, see Simple Network
Session control, RTPC, 827
mobile radio propagation effects,
Management Protocol (SNMP)
Session Description Protocol (SDP),
422-424
SNMPv3, 769-770
800, 811, 820
peak amplitude, 68
SNMPv2, 764-769
Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), 800,
period, 69
data types, 767
811-820
periodic, 68, 836-837, 838
elements of, 765-767
client, 812
phase, 69
protocol data units (PDUs), 768-769
components, 812-814
power spectral density (PSD), 837,
protocol operation, 767-769
messages, 817
839-840
structure of management informa-
multimedia support of, 811-820
sinusiod function, 69
tion (SMI), 765, 767
operation, examples of, 814-817, 818
strength, 99-101, 422
use of, 764
requests, 817-819
time domain, 67-70
SNR, see Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)
responses, 819-820
transmission impairment, 86-91
Socket, network service transport, 658
server, 812
TV, FDM, 243-244
Soft state, RSVP, 636
Session Description Protocol (SDP),
voiceband, FDM, 244-246
Softswitch architecture, 307-309
800, 811, 820
wavelength, 70
Source, defined, 16
Uniform Resource Identifier (URI),
Simple average, TCP congestion
Source address, 464, 492, 541, 577, 590
814
control, 684
IEEE 802.11 MAC, 541
use of, 800, 811
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
IEEE 802.3, (SA), 492
voice over IP (VoIP), 811
(SMTP), 41, 48, 744, 745-752
IGMP, 613
Session key, defined, 712
commands, 748
IP protocol, 577, 579
Session size, RTPC, 826-827
connection closing, 751
IPv6, 590
Shannon capacity formula, 93-94
connection setup, 749-750
MAC, 464
Shaper, DS traffic conditioning
envelope, 745
Source Description (SDES), RTCP,
function, 642-643
Internet-based application, 48
828, 830
Shielded twisted pair (STP), 109,
mail transfer, 750-750
Source Input Format (SIF), 803
110-111
operation of, 745-747
Source quench message, ICMP, 584
Signal interference and noise
overview of, 747-749
Source routing, 470, 577
reduction, 144
protocol, 747
IEEE 802, 470
Signal spectrum, 143
receiver, 747
IP protocol, 577
Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), 93-94
replies, 748-749
Sources, number of, IGMP, 613
Signaling, 78, 139, 141, 254, 335,
RFC 822 format, 751-752
Space diversity, 427
385-386
sender, 746-747
Space division switching, 305-307
analog, 139
use of, 41, 744
Spanning tree, 470, 471-473
bit, 254
Simple Network Management
address learning, 471-472
control, ATM, 335
Protocol (SNMP), 744,
algorithm, 470, 472-473
data rate, 141
760-770
approach, 471-473
defined, 78
architecture, 762-764
forwarding database, 471
digital, 139
concepts of, 761-762
frame forwarding, 471
explicit congestion, 385-386
defined, 761
Spectral allocation, AMPS, 427-428
implicit congestion, 385
management agent, 761-762
Spectrum, defined, 72
meta-signaling channel, 335
management information base
Spread spectrum, 274-294
modulation rate, 141
(MIB), 762, 765
code division multiple access
polar, 141
management station, 761
(CDMA), 275, 276, 287-290
unipolar, 141
network management, defined, 18
concept of, 276
user-to-network signaling virtual
network management systems,
defined, 275
channel, 335
760-761
direct sequence (DSSS), 275,
user-to-user signaling virtual chan-
recommended reading and Web site,
282-286, 289-290
nel, 335
770-771
frequency-hopping (FHSS), 275,
Signals, 17, 67-72, 78, 80-86, 86-91,
traps, 764
277-282
99-101, 139, 140, 243-244,
UDP and, 762-763
introduction to, 275
244-246, 255, 279, 422-424,
use of, 744, 760-761
recommended reading and Web site,
424-427, 836-840. See also
version 1, 761-764
290
Bandwidth; Encoding
version 3 (SNMPv3), 769-770
Spread spectrum LANs, 528, 530
analog, 67, 80-86
version 2 (SNMPv2), 764-769
configuration of, 530
analog transmission, 84-85
Simplex, RSVP, 636
defined, 528
aperiodic, 68, 837, 839-840
Simplex transmission, 67
FCC licensing, 528, 530
attenuation, 99
Single-bit error, 186
transmission issues, 530
INDEX
875
Star topology, 447, 454
LAN use of, 447, 473-478
IP datagram, 38
Start Frame Delimiter (SFD), IEEE
layer 3, 476-478
layers, 34-36
802.3, 490
layer 2, 474-475
network access layer, 35
Start-of-frame delimiter, IEEE
store-and-forward, 476
operation of, 36-38
802.11b, 548
subnetworks, 477
physical layer, 35
Stations, 222, 299
Symmetric encryption, 702, 705-713,
ports, 37
HDLQ, 222
714
protocol architecture, 34-42
network devices, 299
Advanced Encryption Standard
protocol interfaces, 41-42
Statistical metric, 647
(AES), 707-710
segments, 37-38
Statistical multiplexing, VPC, 402
brute force attack, 706
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
Statistical time division multiplexing,
ciphertext, 706
(SMTP), 41, 48
240, 241, 258-265
cryptanalysis, 706
subnetworks, 36
cable modem, 264-265
Data Encryption Standard (DES),
TELNET, 41, 48
characteristics of, 258-260
707
Transmission Control Protocol
defined, 240, 241
decryption algorithm, 706
(TCP), 36
frame formats, 259
encryption algorithms, 705, 707-710
transport layer, 35-36
performance of, 260-264
key distribution, 711-713
User Datagram Protocol (UDP)
Status codes, HTTP, 793
location of devices, 710-711
and, 38-39, 41
Stop-and-wait, 210-212, 217, 232-234,
message authentication using, 714
TDM, see Time division multiplexing
237
plaintext, 705
(TDM)
acknowledgement frame, 215
requirements for, 706
TELNET, 41, 48
ARQ, 217, 237
secret key, 705
10-Gpbs Ethernet, 497-500
data frame, 214-215
traffic padding, 713
Terminal equipment (TE), 338
data link control protocol, 210-212
Synchronization, 17-18, 181, 443
Terrestrial microwave, 119-120
flow control, 210-212, 232-234
channels, 433
Text, media type, 49-50
performance issues, 232-234, 237
digital data, 181
Text type, MIME, 753
piggybacking, 214
signals,17-18
TFTP, see Trivial File Transfer Protocol
transmission time, 211-212, 232-234
Synchronization source (SSRC)
(TFTP)
Stop element, asynchronous
indentifier, 825
Thermal noise, 89
transmission, 183
Synchronous Digital Hierarchy
Third generation (3G) cellular
Storage area network (SAN), 449
(SDH), 255-258
systems, 432-440
Store-and-forward switch, 476
frame formats, 256-258
bandwidth, 439
Stream delimiter, start and end of,
ITU-T designations, 255
chip rate, 439
NRZI, 510
signal hierarchy, 255
design considerations, 438-440
Stream identification, IP protocol, 577
Synchronous Optical Network
interfaces, 437-438
Structure of management information
(SONET), 255-258
multirate, 439-440
(SMI), SNMPv2, 765, 767
frame formats, 256-258
personal communication networks
STS-1 (Synchronous Transport level
overhead bits, 257
(PCNs), 437
1), see Synchronous Optical
overhead octets, 256
personal communication services
Network (SONET)
signal hierarchy, 255
(PCSs), 437
Subcarrier, defined, 243
STS-1 (Synchronous Transport level
Three-way handshake procedure,
Subnets and subnet masks, IP
1), 255-258
671-673
addresses, 580-582
Synchronous time division
Throughput, 51, 527, 628
Subnetworks, 36, 477-478, 566
multiplexing, 240, 248-258
inelastic traffic, 51, 628
address, 38
characteristics of, 248-250
wireless LANs, 527
internetworking, 566
defined, 240
Time division multiplexing (TDM),
LAN switches and, 477-478
digital carrier systems, 253-255
240, 241, 248-258, 258-265
TCP/IP, 36
Synchronous Digital Hierarchy
digital carrier systems, 253-255
Subscriber line, 302
(SDH), 255-258
link control, 250-253
Subscribers, public
Synchronous Optical Network
statistical, 240, 241, 258-265
telecommunications network,
(SONET), 255-258
synchronous, 240, 248-258
302
TDM link control, 250-253
use of, 240, 241
Supervisory frames (S-frames), 224
Synchronous transmission, 181,
Time division switching, 307
Sustainable cell rate (SCR), 402-403
182-183, 185-186
Time domain, 67-70
Switched communications networks,
defined, 181
Time exceeded message, ICMP, 583
296, 297-327, 351-376
frame, 185
Time to live, IP protocol, 577, 579
ARAPNET, 362-367
postamble bit pattern, 185
Timers, 667, 669, 670, 674, 686
circuit switching, 295, 298, 301-304,
preamble bit pattern, 185
keepalive, 674
304-309, 315-317
Syntax, 34, 61
persist, 669
example of, 299-300
TCP/IP, 34
retransmission (RTO), 667, 686
frame relay, 319-323
TFTP, 61
retransmit-SYN, 670
least-cost algorithms, 367-372
transport protocol, 667
nodes, 299, 300
Timestamp, 577, 585, 825
packet switching, 295, 298, 309-317,
T
ICMP, 585
317-319, 319-323, 352-362,
Tagging, GFR, 407
IP protocol, 577
362-367, 367-372
TCP, see Transmission Control
reply message, 585
recommended reading and Web
Protocol (TCP)
RTP, 825
sites, 324
TCP/IP, 34-42, 48
Timing, 34, 61, 355, 356, 399-400,
routing, 296, 351-376
application layer, 36
539-540
X.25 interfacing standard, 317-319
applications of, 41
cell insertion time, 399
Switched VCC and VPC, 334
File Transfer Protocol (FTP), 41, 48
connection duration, 399
Switches, 447, 473-478
host-to-host layer, 35-36
decision time, routing, 355
broadcast storm, 477
Internet-based applications, 48
information update, routing, 356
cut-through, 476
internet layer, 35
interframe space (IFS), 802.11
hubs and, 474-475
Internet Protocol (IP), 35, 39-40
MAC, 539-540
876
INDEX
Timing (cont.)
selective cell discard, 405
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP),
long term, 399
sustainable cell rate (SCR),
36, 656, 674-693
round-trip propagation time, 399
402-403
congestion control, 683-693
TCP/IP, 34
techniques, 400-406
connection establishment, 680
TFTP, 61
timing, 399-400
connection termination, 680
traffic and congestion control,
traffic policing, 405
data stream push, 675
399-400
traffic shaping, 405-406
data transfer, 680
Top-down approach, 3-5
usage parameter control (UPC),
header fields, 676-680
Topologies, 201-202, 451-456, 454, 504
404-405
implementation policy options,
bus, 451-453, 454
variable-bit rate (VBR), 402-403
680-682
defined, 451
virtual paths, 400-402
layer, 36
digital data communication, 201-202
Trailer, HDLC, 223
mechanisms, 679-680
Fibre Channel, 504
Transfer, TFTP, 59
retransmission timer management,
hub, 454
Transfer encodings, MIME, 757-760
683-690
LANs, 451-456
base64, 758-760
service parameters, 677
ring, 453, 455
quoted-printable, 757-758
service request primitives, 675
star, 454
rules, 758
service response primitives, 676
transmission media, choice of,
Translator, RTP packets, 824
services, 675-676
455-456
Transmission, 17, 20-21, 65-101,
urgent data signaling, 675
tree, 451-453
102-137, 181, 182-186, 202-203,
use of, 656, 674
Total Length field, IP protocol, 578
528, 565, 635, 636. See also
window management, 690-693
Total Path Attributes Length field,
Retransmission
Transmission impairments, 86-91, 99, 104
BGP, 620
analog, 84-85
attenuation, 86-87, 88, 99
Traffic, 12, 51-52, 334, 405-406, 420,
analog and digital data, 78-86
delay distortion, 87, 89
429, 433, 625-628, 631-632,
asynchronous, 181, 182-185
noise, 89-91
642-643, 704, 713, 808-811
attenuation, 86-87, 88
transmission media and, 104
analysis, network attack, 704
bandwidth, 72-78, 79, 92-93, 104
Transmission media, 21, 102-137, 451,
channels, 420, 429, 433
channel capacity, 91-96
455-457, 503
classifier, DS, 642-643
communication techniques, 21
coaxial cable, 112, 456
conditioning functions, DS PHB,
concepts and terminology of, 67
Fibre Channel, 503
642, 642-643
data, 65-101
guided, 67, 103, 104-116
defined, 12
decibels and signal strength,
LANs, 451, 455-457
digital channels, 429
99-101
line-of-sight, 125-129, 129-133
dropper, DS, 642-643
defined, 78
twisted pair, 104-111, 455
elastic, 51-52, 625-628
delay distortion, 87, 89
unguided, 67
inelastic, 51-52, 628
digital, 84-85
wireless, 20, 67, 117-125, 125-129,
Internet, 625-628
digital data, 85-86, 181, 182-186,
129-133
ISA, 625-628
202-203
Transmission time, 211-212, 232-234,
marker, DS, 642-643
direct link, 67
315-316, 514-517
meter, DS, 642-643
efficiency, 21
circuit and packet switching,
multimedia, 51-52
electromagnetic spectrum and fre-
315-316
padding, 713
quencies of, 105
high-speed LANs, 514-517
parameters, VCC and VCP, 334
fiber optic, 20
stop-and-wait flow control, 211-212,
real-time, 808-811
frequency domain, 67, 70-72
232-234
shaper, DS, 642-643
full-duplex, 67, 203
Transmit error, NRZI encoding, 510
shaping, 405-406
guided media, 67, 103, 104-116
Transmitter, defined, 17
specification (Tspec), ISA, 631-632
half-duplex, 67, 202-203
Transmitter address, IEEE 802.11
Traffic management, 386-387, 389-392,
impairments, 86-91, 104
MAC, 541
394-406, 406-408, 464
information, of, 20-21
Transport layer, TCP/IP, 35-36
ATM, 394-406
interference, 104
Transport protocols, 556, 655-698. See
ATM-GFR, 406-408
introduction to, 66-67
also Network service
cell delay variation (CDV),
line-of-sight (LOS), 125-129,
connection-oriented mechanisms,
395-398,402-403
129-133
657-674
committed burst size, 391
media, 21, 102-137
recommended reading and Web
committed information rate (CIT),
multicast, 635, 636
sites, 695
390
multipoint, 67
reliable sequencing network service,
congestion control, 386-387,
noise, 89-91
657-665
394-406, 406-408
point to point, 67, 104, 106
timers, 667
connection admission control,
priority, 565
Transmission Control Protocol
402-404
protocol services, 565
(TCP), 656, 674-693
constant bit-rate (CBR), 402-403
quality of service, 565
transport service (TS), 656
contention approach, MAC, 464
receivers, 104
unreliable network service, 665-674
discard eligibility (DE), 390
recommended reading and Web
use of, 556-656
excess burst size, 391
sites, 96, 133-134
User Datagram Protocol (UDP),
fairness, 386-387
RSVP, 635, 636
656, 693-694
frame relays, 389-392
security, 528, 565
Transport service (TS), 656
guaranteed frame rate (GFR),
signals, 17, 67-72, 78, 80-86, 86-91,
Traps, SNMP, 764
406-408
99-101
Tree topology, 447, 451-453
latency/speed effects, 395
simplex, 67
Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP),
peak cell rate (PCR), 402-403
spectrum, 72
57-61
quality of service (QoS), 387
synchronous, 181, 182-183, 185-186
errors and delays, 60
rate management, 389-392
system, 17
introduction to, 57
reservation approach, 387, 464
time domain, 67-70
packets, 57-59
resource management, 400-402
unicast, 635, 636
semantics, 61
round robin approach, MAC, 464
wireless LANs, 528
syntax, 61
INDEX
877
timing, 61
VCC, see Virtual channel connection
Virtual Path Identifier (VPI), ATM, 336
transfer, overview of, 59-60
(VCC)
Virtual private networks (VPN),
Trunks, public telecommunications
Version field, 577, 590
596-599
network, 303
Very high data rate digital subscriber
Voiceband signals, see Frequency
Tunnel, HTTP, 788
line (VDSL), 268-269
division multiplexing (FDM)
TV signals, see Frequency division
Very large-scale integration (VLSI), 7,
Voice over IP (VoIP), 811
multiplexing (FDM)
86
Twisted pair, 104-111, 455
Very small aperture terminal (VST), 122
LAN use of, 455
Video, 50, 78-79, 82-83, 803-808
W
applications of, 107
analog data, 78-79, 82-83
WAN, see Wide area networking
categories of, 109-111
anchor frame, 805
(WAN)
description of, 104, 106-107
color subsampling, 803
Wavelength, defined, 70
shielded (STP), 109, 110-111
compression, 803-808
Wavelength division multiplexing
subscriber loops, 107
discrete cosine transformation
(WDM), 247-248
transmission characteristics of, 107
(DCT), 803-804
Web access, see Hypertext Transfer
unshielded (UTP), 109-111
fast forward/reverse searches, 804
Protocol (HTTP)
Two-level PSK, see Binary phase-shift
frame ordering, 807-808
Web sites, 5-6, 54, 96, 134, 270, 290,
keying (BPSK)
Huffman coding, 804
324, 349, 441, 479, 506, 551, 600,
Type-of-service indicators, IP protocol,
interpolation, 806-807
651, 695, 740, 771, 796, 832
577
media type, 50
asynchronous transfer mode (ATM),
motion compensation, 805
349
MPEG compression algorithm,
cellular wireless networks, 441
U
803-805
data communications, 5-6
UDP, see User Datagram Protocol
prediction, 805-806
data transmission, 96
(UDP)
quantization, 804
Domain Name System (DNS), 796
Unacknowledged connectionless
random access, 804
electronic mail, 770-771
service, LLC, 460-461
run-length encoding, 804
high-speed LANs, 506
Unbalanced configuration, HDLQ, 222
scaling and color conversion, 803
Hypertext Transfer Protocol
Unguided media, see Wireless
Source Input Format (SIF), 803
(HTTP), 796
transmission media
transmission, 78-79, 82-83
Internet Protocol (IP), 600
Unicast addressing, 564, 593
Video type, MIME, 756
internetwork operation, 651
Unicast strategy, multicasting, 607
Videocassette recorders (VCRs), 16
local area network (LAN), 479
Unicast transmission, RSVP, 635, 636
Virtual channel connection (VCC),
multimedia applications, 832
Uniform Resource Identifier (URI),
331-335
multiplexing, 270
814
call establishment, 332
network security, 740
Unipolar signaling, 141
call sequence integrity, 334
protocol architecture, 54
Universal Networking Information
characteristics of, 334-335
Simple Network Management
Infrastructure (UNNI), 545
connection uses, 333-334
Protocol (SNMP), 771
Unnumbered frames (U-frames), 224
defined, 331
spread spectrum, 290
Unshielded twisted pair (UTP),
meta-signaling channel, 335
switched communications networks,
109-111
quality of service (QoS), 334
324
Unspecified bit rate (UBR), 345, 347
semipermanent, 334, 335
transmission media, 134
Urgent data signaling, 675
switched, 334
transport protocols, 695
Urgent pointer field, TCP, 679
terminology for, 333
wireless LANs, 551
Usage parameter control (UPC),
traffic parameters, 334
Weighted fair queuing (WFQ), 634
404-405
user-to-network signaling channel,
White noise, 89
USENET newsgroups, 6
335
Wide area networking (WAN), 15,
User agent, HTTP, 786
Virtual Channel Identifier (VCI),
22-23, 295-296, 297-327,
User agent client (UAC), 812
ATM, 337
328-350, 351-376, 377-412,
User agent server (UAS), 812
Virtual circuits, 310, 321-313, 318-319
413-443
User data transfer, frame relay, 322-323
approach, packet switching, 310,
asynchronous transfer mode (ATM),
User Datagram Protocol (UDP),
321-313
296, 328-350
38-39, 41, 656, 693-694, 762-763
defined, 318
cellular wireless networks, 296,
headers, 39, 694
X.25 interfacing, 317-319
413-443
SNMP and, 762-763
Virtual path connection (VPC),
circuit switching, 295, 298, 301-304,
TCP and, 38-39, 41
331-333, 334-335, 400-402
304-309, 315-316
use of, 656, 693-694
advantages of, 331
congestion control in data networks,
User module (UM), wireless LANs, 524
aggregate peak demand, 401-402
296, 377-412
User plane, 321-322, 330
ATM resource management,
corporate needs, 15
ATM, 330
400-402
frame relay, 319-323
frame relay, 321-322
call establishment, 332
packet switching, 295, 298, 309-317,
User response, frame relays, 393-394
call sequence integrity, 334
317-319, 319-323
User-network interface (UNI), 338,
characteristics of, 334-335
routing, 296, 351-376
397-398
customer controlled, 335
switched communications networks,
ATM, 338
defined, 331
296, 297-327, 351-376
Cell delay variation (CDV), 397-398
identifier restriction, 334
use of, 22-23, 295-296
network controlled, 335
X.25 interfacing standard, 317-319
quality of service (QoS), 334
Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), 550,
V
semipermanent, 334, 335
737-739
Variable-bit-rate (VBR), 336, 345, 346,
statistical multiplexing, 402
access control, 738-739
402-403
switched, 334
authentication, 737-738
connection admission control, 402-403
terminology for, 333
LAN standards, 550
GFC mechanism, 336
traffic management and congestion
network security, 737-739
non-real-time (nrt-VBR), 345, 346
control, 400-402
privacy with message integrity, 738,
real-time (rt-VBR), 345, 346
traffic parameters, 334
739
878
INDEX
Window field, TCP, 679
independent basic services set
frequency bands, 126
Window management, 690-693
(IBSS), 532
ground waves, 125
dynamic window sizing, 691
infrared (IR), 528-530
infrared, 125
fast recovery, 693
introduction to, 445, 523
line-of-sight, 125-129, 129-133
fast retransmit, 691-693
LAN extension, 524-525
microwave frequencies, 117
slow start, 690-691
medium access control (MAC),
microwave systems, 119-124
TCP congestion control,
534-535, 535-543
multipath interference, 132-133
683-690
nomadic access, 525-526
propagation, 125-129
Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi), 532, 550,
overview of, 523-528
radio range, 117
737-739
physical layer, 457, 496-497,
refraction, 128, 133
Alliance, 532, 737
543-549
sound waves, 125
network security, 737-739
portal, 532
unguided media, 67, 103
Protected Access (WPA), 550,
recommended reading and Web
wireless media, 20, 67, 117-125,
737-739
sites, 550-551
125-129, 129-133
WLANs, 550
requirements, 526-528
World Wide Web (WWW), see
Wireless LANs (WLAN), 445, 483,
security considerations, 549-550
Hypertext Transfer Protocol
522-553
services, 533-535
(HTTP)
access point (AP), 532
spread spectrum, 528, 530
WPA, see Wi-Fi Protected Access
ad hoc networking, 526
technology, 528-530
(WPA)
applications, 524-526
user module (UM), 524
Write request (WRQ) packet, 58
architecture, 531-533
Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), 550
association-related services,
Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) Alliance,
535
532
X
basic services set (BSS), 532
Wireless transmission, 20, 67, 117-125,
X.25 interfacing standard, 317-319
control module (SM), 524
125-129, 129-133. See also
Link Access Protocol-Balanced
cross-building interconnect, 525
Cellular wireless networks;
(LAPB), 318-319
distribution system (DS), 532,
Wireless LANs
virtual circuits, 318-319
534-535
antennas, 117-119
xDSL, 268-269
extended service set (ESS), 533
atmospheric absorption, 132
high-speed, 483
broadcast radio, 124
IEEE 802.11, 523, 531-535, 535-543,
defined, 20
Z
543-549, 549-550
free space loss, 129-132
Zone, DNS, 779-781
ACRONYMS
AAL
ATM Adaptation Layer
IEEE
Institute of Electrical and
ADSL
Asymmetric Digital Subscriber
Electronics Engineers
Line
IETF
Internet Engineering Task Force
AES
Advanced Encryption Standard
IGMP
Internet Group Management
AM
Amplitude Modulation
Protocol
AMI
Alternate Mark Inversion
IP
Internet Protocol
ANS
American National Standard
IPng
Internet Protocol - Next
ANSI
American National Standard
Generation
Institute
IRA
International Reference Alphabet
ARP
Address Resolution Protocol
ISA
Integrated Services Architecture
ARQ
Automatic Repeat Request
ISDN
Integrated Services Digital
ASCII
American Standard Code for
Network
Information Interchange
ISO
International Organization for
ASK
Amplitude-Shift Keying
Standardization
ATM
Asynchronous Transfer Mode
ITU
International Telecommunication
BER
Bit Error Rate
Union
B-ISDN
Broadband ISDN
ITU-T
ITU Telecommunication
BGP
Border Gateway Protocol
Standardization Sector
BOC
Bell Operating Company
LAN
Local Area Network
CBR
Constant Bit Rate
LAPB
Link Access Procedure-Balanced
CCITT
International Consultative
LAPD
Link Access Procedure on the
Committee on Telegraphy and
D Channel
Telephony
LAPF
Link Access Procedure for Frame
CIR
Committed Information Rate
Mode Bearer Services
CMI
Coded Mark Inversion
LLC
Logical Link Control
CRC
Cyclic Redundancy Check
MAC
Medium Access Control
CSMA/CD
Carrier Sense Multiple Access
MAN
Metropolitan Area Network
with Collision Detection
MIME
Multi-Purpose Internet Mail
DCE
Data Circuit-Terminating
Extension
Equipment
NRZI
Nonreturn to Zero, Inverted
DEA
Data Encryption Algorithm
NRZL
Nonreturn to Zero, Level
DES
Data Encryption Standard
NT
Network Termination
DS
Differentiated Services
OSI
Open Systems Interconnection
DTE
Data Terminal Equipment
OSPF
Open Shortest Path First
FCC
Federal Communications
PBX
Private Branch Exchange
Commission
PCM
Pulse-Code Modulation
FCS
Frame Check Sequence
PDU
Protocol Data Unit
FDM
Frequency-Division Multiplexing
PSK
Phase-Shift Keying
FSK
Frequency-Shift Keying
PTT
Postal, Telegraph, and Telephone
FTP
File Transfer Protocol
PM
Phase Modulation
FM
Frequency Modulation
QAM
Quadrature Amplitude
GFR
Guaranteed Frame Rate
Modulation
GPS
Global Positioning System
QoS
Quality of Service
HDLC
High-Level Data Link Control
QPSK
Quadrature Phase Shift Keying
HTML
Hypertext Markup Language
RBOC
Regional Bell Operating Company
HTTP
Hypertext Transfer Protocol
RF
Radio Frequency
IAB
Internet Architecture Board
RSA
Rivest, Shamir, Adleman
ICMP
Internet Control Message Protocol
Algorithm
IDN
Integrated Digital Network
RSVP
Resource ReSerVation Protocol
SAP
Service Access Point
TE
Terminal Equipment
SDH
Synchronous Digital Hierarchy
UBR
Unspecified Bit Rate
SDU
Service Data Unit
UDP
User Datagram Protocol
SLA
Service Level Agreement
UNI
User-Network Interface
SMTP
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
UTP
Unshielded Twisted Pair
SNMP
Simple Network Management
VAN
Value-Added Network
Protocol
VBR
Variable Bit Rate
SONET Synchronous Optical Network
VCC
Virtual Channel Connection
SS7
Signaling System Number 7
VPC
Virtual Path Connection
STP
Shielded Twisted Pair
WDM
Wavelength Division Multiplexing
TCP
Transmission Control Protocol
WWW
World Wide Web
TDM
Time-Division Multiplexing
THE WILLIAM STALLINGS BOOKS ON COMPUTER
COMPUTER NETWORKS WITH INTERNET PROTOCOLS
AND TECHNOLOGY
The objective of this book is to provide an up-to-date survey of developments
in the area of Internet-based protocols and algorithms. Using a top-down
approach, this book covers applications, transport layer, Internet QoS,
Internet routing, data link layer and computer networks, security, and network
management. ISBN 0-13-141098-9
COMPUTER ORGANIZATION AND ARCHITECTURE,
SEVENTH EDITION
A unified view of this broad field. Covers fundamentals such as CPU, control
unit, microprogramming, instruction set, I/O, and memory. Also covers advanced
topics such as RISC, superscalar, and parallel organization. Fourth and fifth
editions received the TAA award for the best Computer Science and
Engineering Textbook of the year. ISBN 0-13-185644-8
OPERATING SYSTEMS, FIFTH EDITION
A state-of-the art survey of operating system principles. Covers fundamental
technology as well as contemporary design issues, such as threads,
microkernels, SMPs, real-time systems, multiprocessor scheduling,
distributed systems, clusters, security, and object-oriented design. Fourth
edition received the TAA award for the best Computer Science and Engineering
Textbook of 2002. ISBN 0-13-147954-7
HIGH-SPEED NETWORKS AND INTERNETS, SECOND EDITION
A state-of-the art survey of high-speed networks. Topics covered include
TCP congestion control, ATM traffic management, internet traffic
management, differentiated and integrated services, internet routing
protocols and multicast routing protocols, resource reservation and RSVP, and
lossless and lossy compression. Examines important topic of self-similar
data traffic. ISBN 0-13-03221-0
NETWORK SECURITY ESSENTIALS, THIRD EDITION
A tutorial and survey on network security technology. The book covers
important network security tools and applications, including S/MIME, IP
Security, Kerberos, SSL/TLS, SET, and X509v3. In addition, methods for
countering hackers and viruses are explored. ISBN 0-13-238033-1
AND DATA COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY
WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS AND NETWORKS,
SECOND EDITION
A comprehensive, state-of-the art survey. Covers fundamental wireless
communications topics, including antennas and propagation, signal encoding
techniques, spread spectrum, and error correction techniques. Examines
satellite, cellular, wireless local loop networks and wireless LANs, including
Bluetooth and 802.11. Covers Mobile IP and WAP. ISBN 0-13-191835-4
CRYPTOGRAPHY AND NETWORK SECURITY, FOURTH EDITION
A tutorial and survey on network security technology. Each of the basic building
blocks of network security, including conventional and public-key cryptography,
authentication, and digital signatures, are covered. The book covers important
network security tools and applications, including S/MIME, IP Security, Kerberos,
SSL/TLS, SET, and X509v3. In addition, methods for countering hackers and
viruses are explored. Second edition received the TAA award for the best
Computer Science and Engineering Textbook of 1999. ISBN 0-13-187316-4
BUSINESS DATA COMMUNICATIONS, FIFTH EDITION
A comprehensive presentation of data communications and
telecommunications from a business perspective. Covers voice, data, image,
and video communications and applications technology and includes a
number of case studies. ISBN 0-13-144257-0
LOCAL AND METROPOLITAN AREA NETWORKS, SIXTH EDITION
An in-depth presentation of the technology and architecture of local and
metropolitan area networks. Covers topology, transmission media, medium
access control, standards, internetworking, and network management. Provides
an up-to-date coverage of LAN/MAN systems, including Fast Ethernet, Fibre
Channel, and wireless LANs, plus LAN QoS. Received the 2001 TAA award for
long-term excellence in a Computer Science Textbook. ISBN 0-13-012939-9
ISDN AND BROADBAND ISDN, WITH FRAME RELAY AND ATM:
FOURTH EDITION
An in-depth presentation of the technology and architecture of integrated
services digital networks (ISDN). Covers the integrated digital network (IDN),
xDSL, ISDN services and architecture, signaling system no. 7 (SS7) and
provides detailed coverage of the ITU-T protocol standards. Also provides
detailed coverage of protocols and congestion control strategies for both frame
relay and ATM. ISBN 0-13-973744-8
